You'd Be North
by Black Licorice Addict
Summary: Somewhere between laughing for no reason, stupid arguments, dangerous missions, long talks, random outings, and making fun of each other, it was inevitable that this happen. Spitfire.
1. The Sky that I Fell Through

**A/N: This story is basically a bunch of interconnected oneshots showing how Kid Flash and Artemis's relationship develops over time. For the most part, they should be chronological. It will be updated randomly. Now, without further ado, please enjoy :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. If I did, I wouldn't make people wait so long before showing a new episode. I mean, come on, really? Two months of reruns? For a new show? *rant over***

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><p><strong>You'd Be North<strong>

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><p><strong>The Sky that I Fell Through<strong>

First impressions are usually pretty important. They don't always make or break a relationship, but it takes longer to reform an opinion of someone after that first impression. So it probably didn't help that he was shirtless and tripped over his own feet. It also probably didn't help that she had a sharp tongue and couldn't resist a jab at him. She didn't know he wasn't paying attention to his feet because he caught a glimpse of her standing next to Green Arrow. He didn't know the snarky comments were to cover her embarrassment for checking him out. Anyone would be hard-pressed to find a male Justice League member NOT physically fit, but Artemis couldn't help it if they were parading themselves around in front of her…shirtless.

Their animosity was born from misconstrued messages, but their attraction was not. Unfortunately for them, the damage had been done, but it turned out that this first impression wouldn't really matter in the long run. Though Robin might argue the whole thing was rather whelming, Kid Flash and Artemis would disagree.

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><p>Kid Flash was a natural born flirt. He flirted with the homely girls and the girls out of his league, with the human and nonhuman girls alike. If it was a walking, living, breathing girl, chances were he had flirtedwas flirting/or was going to flirt with her. The only exception to this rule seemed to be Artemis. The other team members of Young Justice knew better, but they knew the definition of "tough love".

Artemis was a fighter. She challenged anyone and everyone over anything and everything. When people were on the defensive, Artemis had a better feel of where she stood with them and what their next reaction was likely to be; it came from having a sketchy past of always glancing over her shoulder. The only problem came from challenging that idiotic Kid Flash—he was unpredictable.

Granted, Kid Flash usually rose to the bait whenever Artemis decided to start a fight, but his responses were never what she expected and usually left her more frustrated than before.

He also didn't bother to hide his apparent disdain for her taking Speedy's place on their team. She knew her teammates, despite their constant reassurance of being glad to have her on the team and praising her for a job well done on missions, didn't trust her completely like they did Speedy. Artemis couldn't really blame them; she hadn't been entirely open about her past. Still, in a small, sick, twisted way, she found Kid Flash's open hostility…_refreshing_. He was nothing, if not honest about how he felt. And honesty was not something lost on her.

Which may have been why she stormed off in a fury after he lied to her about Dr. Fate's helmet. Artemis studied body language and voice inflection, and she could tell Kid Flash wasn't telling her the truth when she asked what had happened to him. She didn't know what bothered her more: that he was lying to her or that she cared that he was lying to her.

To his credit, Kid Flash actual felt a little guilty for lying to Artemis about the whole Dr. Fate thing. He wanted to blame it on the grief he was still experiencing over the death of Kent Nelson and on the out-of-body experience that had messed with his logical mind. Nelson's words still running circles in his brain didn't help either. They continually repeated themselves over and over until Wally could swear they were being spoken by the helmet.

"_Find your own little spitfire. One that won't let you get away with nothing_."

His eyes trailed to the door where the blonde archer stood moments before. "_Artemis never lets me get away with anything,"_ he told himself. Wally's eyes widened as the sudden thought came to mind. Desperate for a distraction from _that_ thought, Kid Flash nearly jumped for joy when Megan strolled past, and he did the first thing that came to mind: flirt.

"Heeeeelloooo Megan! Guess who bought two tickets to a magic show…"

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><p>Artemis knew Kid Flash did not really enjoy himself at the magic show. How, might you ask, did she know this? Wally told her. Repeatedly. Ignoring the fact that she was in the middle of her morning I-can't-sleep-so-I-might-as-well-burn-off-extra-energy workout in the gym, the speedster recounted the entire show to her, dissecting every act and revealing every trick that had been performed. Artemis was losing count of how many uppercuts she had delivered to the punching bag, imagining that it was Kid Flash's face instead.<p>

"And then he had the assistant stick all these swords into his head, but the box is actually deeper than it looks from the crowd so his head isn't even close to being cut—"

"WALLY!" Artemis thundered, turning to the speedster on the treadmill who hadn't even broken a sweat in his loose t-shirt and gym shorts. "I don't want to know how awful the show was! If you insist on not believing in magic, then don't go see a MAGIC SHOW! I don't want to listen to you complain about it later!"

She was about to start beating the crap out of her punching bag again when she heard Kid Flash sigh and turn off the machine. "I had to go," he said in a quiet, dejected tone.

Artemis paused, but decided not to let him off without a snarky remark. "What? Couldn't pass up an opportunity to go on a date with Megan?"

"It's not like that!" Kid Flash yelled angrily, flailing his hands, his voice echoing around the empty gym. Artemis's eyes widened in shock. She'd never seen the happy-go-lucky speedster this upset.

"It's not like that," he said more quietly, running one hand through his windswept hair. "It's just…I can't really explain…Do you want to get out of here for a bit?"

His last question caught her off guard. "Get out of Mount Justice? Now? Where would we go? It's four in the freaking morning!" Artemis asked incredulously, hands on her hips.

"C'mon. I know a place," Kid Flash responded, grabbing her wrist and not waiting for her compliance.

"Wally!" she protested, "I'm covered in sweat, I need a shower and a change of clothes, and it's FOUR in the freaking morning!"

Wally eyed her sweat-drenched tank top and her baggy basketball shorts, wondering what was wrong with what she had on. She still looked beaut—er, nice. "You look fine." She snorted in disbelief. "C'mon, Artemis." He looked her in the eye. It didn't come out begging or demanding, just a civil request.

Artemis hated to give in, but if he wanted to hang out with her of all people, then whatever was going on had to be bad. "Fine! But make it quick," she snapped.

Kid Flash smirked. "Remember who you're talking to."

Artemis rolled her eyes, but allowed him to continue dragging her to the transporter. She wondered how the others could still be asleep with all the noise the voice made when announcing their departure.

"Recognized, Kid Flash. B03. Recognized, Artemis. B07."

The two were zapped out into the broken phone booth in Gotham, which was too small for the majority of the Justice League males individually, much less two sweaty, smelly teenagers. They quickly burst out into the crisp Gotham morning, the sky still dark, and the skyscraper lights aglow.

"Gotham? You wanted to go to Gotham?" Artemis demanded.

"I just pushed the button to take us wherever the last person went," Kid Flash shrugged. "It's not like I can't take us somewhere else."

"Like where?" Artemis asked, hands on her hips.

"Hop on, and you'll find out." Kid Flash smirked, bending down slightly.

"Seriously? You're joking right?" Artemis scoffed.

"C'mon Blondie, you're gonna start burning daylight."

"Argh!" Artemis threw her hands up in the air. Kid Flash waited patiently for the frustration to blow over. Sure enough, she jumped on his back, arms wrapped around his neck. Kid Flash's smirk became more pronounced.

"Wipe that grin off your face, Baywatch, I can see it back HERE!" Artemis's rant was cut short as Kid Flash took off. Everything became a blur, and Artemis could feel the rollercoaster swooping sensation in her stomach. She buried her face in his neck, hoping she wouldn't become dizzy when the world stopped moving.

Almost as abruptly as Kid Flash took off, he came to a screeching halt. Artemis still had him in a vice-like grip, afraid she might fall off.

"We're here," he told her, grinning like an idiot at her reaction to traveling at super speed.

She let go slowly, fearing that a bout of vertigo would render her temporarily vulnerable. As soon as she was stable with her surroundings, Artemis socked him in the shoulder.

"Oww!" Kid Flash rubbed the sore spot. "What the heck was that for?"

"For being a jerk," Artemis spat, taking in the scenery. Fields and fields of sunflowers stretched for miles in every direction. Artemis looked behind her to find a highway adjacent to an old fashioned 24 hour diner that had been converted into a truck stop. "What is this place?"

"Kansas," Kid Flash told her as he headed for the diner. "This place has the best milkshakes ever."

Artemis followed him, stunned. He ran them all the way to freaking KANSAS? She was still in shock when they plopped down into a booth and a waitress brought them their milkshakes. "I can't believe you brought us all the way to freaking Kansas!"

"Shhh! Not so loud Artemis," Kid Flash told her as he glanced through a menu. "It's always open, and they have better food here than in Gotham."

"That's so not true!" Artemis argued.

"Is too. For milkshakes at least," he mumbled. The tired looking waitress came back and took his order, moving slowly toward the kitchen.

"Wow, she looks dead on her feet," Kid Flash remarked off handedly.

"What do you expect, Baywatch? It's almost three in the morning here," Artemis said, sipping on her milkshake.

Kid Flash glanced at his watch, which automatically reset itself to the local time. "Huh. So it is."

The superheros sat in silence, occasionally sipping on their respective milkshakes. Artemis waited for the waitress to bring out the rest of the order before speaking.

"So, _Wally_, are you going to tell me why exactly I'm out here, in Kansas, at two-something in the morning, instead of Mount Justice's gym?"

Kid Flash set his hamburger down for a few moments, and looked out the window next to them. "Have you ever been so sure of something that you were completely convinced nothing could ever shake that belief?" His voice sounded as far away as his gaze.

Artemis thought of her relationship with her father. She nodded almost imperceptibly.

Kid Flash saw her nod from the corner of his eye. He turned to look at her, his gaze intense. "And then, when you find out you're wrong, you try to do everything possible to convince yourself that there's been some mistake. That what you just witnessed couldn't possibly be true. Am I right?"

Artemis nodded again, finding his gaze too intense and looking down at her milkshake instead. He had no idea just how much he was preaching to the choir right now.

"And when you can't convince yourself anymore…" Wally's glance dropped to the table, "What then?" They met each other's gaze briefly before Wally looked down again, clenching his hand into a fist on the table. "What am I supposed to do?" he whispered to himself.

Artemis, in an act of compassion that she would later attribute to sleep deprivation, placed her hand on top of his fist. This startled Kid Flash enough to look up into her eyes once more. "Sometimes…you can't let your head make all of the decisions, Wally. Some things you just know in your heart to be right, and sometimes that means ignoring what your head is telling you."

Artemis thought about her decision to leave her old life, the only family besides her mother that she had ever known. She gave Kid Flash a small, sad smile. "You'll know what to do when the time comes, Kid."

Wally gave the archer a genuine, grateful smile. He'd never seen Artemis this openly honest and serious. So of course, he had to blow the whole mood with a smartass remark.

"Wow, Artemis. I never figured you for the intellectual, touchy-feely type."

Artemis kicked him under the table and withdrew her hand from his. "You just had to go there, didn't you?"

Kid Flash shrugged and devoured the rest of his sandwich, pretending that Artemis stealing his french fries and glancing out the window like they were going to be ambushed wasn't bothering him at all.

"Oi! Blondie! Quit stealing my fries!" He finally pointed one of the spud sticks at her threateningly.

Artemis raised one eyebrow, accepting his challenge, and snagged the fry clean out of his hand. Kid Flash watched dumbstruck as she chomped down on it. She stole it, STOLE IT, from his HAND!

"Not so fast now, are we Kid?" she taunted. Quicker than she could blink, all of Wally's fries disappeared along with the rest of his milkshake and her milkshake.

"Did you just—"

"Finish off your milkshake?" Kid Flash asked, crossing his arms and looking smug. "Why yes, yes I did."

Artemis, deciding not to argue now that Kid Flash seemed back to normal, yawned and replied, "Touché, Baywatch. Touché."

"Ready to go?" he asked, standing up.

"Yeah," she replied, scooting out of the booth, suddenly feeling more tired than ever. Wally paid at the counter, and the two teens walked back across the road and into a nearby field that shielded them from view.

Kid Flash leaned down once more, and Artemis, finally out of energy, climbed on his back without complaint. He secured his arms around her legs before shooting off into the night once more.

Rather than heading back to Gotham to use the transporter, Wally headed straight toward Mount Justice's back door overlooking the ocean. The first slivers of dawn peaked over the water when the two stopped.

"Hey, Artemis, look," Kid Flash whispered.

Artemis pulled her head from the crook of his neck and peaked over his shoulder, watching the faint light appear over the horizon.

Neither one moved or said anything, just simply watched the dawn unfold. It was Wally who broke the silence first. "Sooo…are you going to climb off now?"

Artemis squeezed his neck tighter. "No, I think you can carry me to my room."

"WHAT? Why should I? You've got two working legs!"

"Because I'm tired, I let you drag me halfway across the country to play Dr. Phil, and I can think of six different ways of knocking you out from back here. That's why," she said, a smug grin on her face.

"Yeah yeah," Wally grumbled. He ambled back to the base, still carrying Artemis on his back. Cringing at how loudly they were announced back inside, Wally wondered what would happen if their teammates saw them like this.

He didn't have to wait long. "Morning, Robin," Artemis called to the Boy Wonder as her and Wally walked past the kitchen bar counter. Robin stopped scrambling the eggs in the pan and stared open-mouth at his teammates strolling past, observing the stray sunflowers stuck in Artemis's long pony tail.

"Hello…Artemis, KF. Tough morning?"

"You have no idea, dude," Kid Flash told him as he disappeared from sight, toting the blonde archer behind him.

Robin shook his head as though to clear his vision and began moving the eggs around the pan once more. Either he was going crazy, or things had just become more interesting.

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><p><strong>AN: For those of you who are unfamiliar with ridiculous therapy shows, Dr. Phil stars on his own daytime television show and bascially counsels people through their problems. The man does help people, but I become irate if forced to watch it or other similar shows for prolonged periods of time. **


	2. And I Remember the View

**A/N: As it turns out, my "interconnected oneshots" are actually "chapters." Go figure, huh. I suppose some concepts must remain forever out of my grasp. I do realize this "chapter" is rather short, but it is necessary for the development of the story. Also, my other story "Bad Reputation" is alluded to, but you don't necessarily need to read it to understand what is going on. **

**On a different note, I was overwhelmed by the number of alerts/favorites this story received. Special thanks goes out to those readers who took the time to review. I always appreciate feedback/constructive criticism/praise/marriage proposals/random comments/candy offerings :)**

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><p><strong>And I Remember the View<strong>

Sometimes in Kid Flash's dizzier daydreams, his thoughts unwittingly drifted toward his blonde archer teammate. During these occurrences, he wondered what would have happened if he and Artemis had met under different circumstances. He could honestly admit to himself that they would have been good friends; she seemed like a fun person. And deep down, in the tiniest corner of his mind, he wondered if it would ever have amounted to more. Kid Flash told himself none of these thoughts really mattered because the past couldn't be changed. He never, ever imagined what would happen if they could temporarily _forget_ the past.

For her part, Artemis would be lying if she said thoughts of Kid Flash never crossed her mind. Granted, most of the thoughts centered on trying not to kill the speedster for something he said or did, but occasionally, Wally managed to surprise her with his more thoughtful, pensive side. These happenings were few and far between though, and they were almost always followed by a smartass comment. Sure, Kid Flash was attractive in a geeky, awkward, adorable sort of way, but Artemis tried not to think about those things too much. She was fairly certain nothing good would ever come out of going down _that_ road.

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><p>Needless to say, the whole Bialya incident shook up the team dynamic in a way no one, especially not Artemis or Kid Flash, could have predicted.<p>

The speedster and archer spent the entire ride back to Mount Justice in awkward silence, ignoring the apparent romance sparking between Miss Martian and Superboy and speaking only when necessary to Robin or the recovering Aqualad. They were too engrossed in their own thoughts over recent events.

Kid Flash couldn't believe he had blatantly flirted with Artemis. Hell, he'd repeatedly called her beautiful AND rescued her even though she told him she was sent to kill him! What kind of masochistic idiot rescues someone out to kill him? And, when he had the chance to ditch Artemis and make a pass at Megan, he'd tried explaining himself to the archer! How could he possibly prefer a homicidal blonde human to a sweet-tempered green alien? Then there was the whole hand-holding thing… He glanced down at his right hand, his fingers tingling with the remembrance of entwining with hers. Was there something…there? Kid Flash shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and focused in on the map screen in front of him, trying hard not to steal glances at the archer sitting next to him.

Artemis's sat rigidly in her seat, torn between shock at almost revealing her past to Kid Flash and embarrassment for falling so easily for his stupid charm. She had even considered ignoring what she originally supposed to be her father's orders to kill the speedster. As if she would have ever really jeopardized her position for a _boy_ if she was still part of the League of Shadows!

_But Kid Flash didn't act like just another boy_, she thought to herself, grateful that Megan had disengaged the mental link. For all Kid Flash knew, she was a threat to his life, yet he still didn't abandon her. She might have just brushed his actions off as part of the whole hero complex (because seriously, those do-gooders trusted people waaaay more than they should), but his interest in her during the Bialya mission went beyond that. She could _feel_ it. Something happened between them; Artemis knew it, and she knew Kid Flash knew it as well. And while Artemis hated to leave things unresolved, she didn't know how to proceed. So, she decided just to put the whole incident behind her and pretend it never happened.

But of course, Wally had to go ruin _that_ plan by being nice and rescuing her again. As if it wasn't enough for him to rescue her when they were on missions, now he had to go and rescue her from her civilian life too! How did he even know she was having a hard time adjusting to her new school and just needed to get away? What gave him the right to stir up butterflies in her stomach by taking her on exciting motorcycle rides and giving her introspective advice on life?

It frustrated her how unpredictably thoughtful he could be, and she couldn't tell if the frustration was directed at him or at herself for starting to like him. And what was she thinking when she kissed him goodnight! Granted, it was barely a brush on the cheek, but it bothered Artemis that maybe she had overstepped the "just friends" line even if it did seem right at the time. Were they even friends now?

There was no denying she had a good time that day, but Artemis knew that they had put themselves back in the same position they were in when they left Bialya. This time, she refused to pretend nothing had happened between them. She wondered if Kid Flash would stop pretending too.

Kid Flash thought he was going crazy; it was the only logical explanation. He couldn't believe after all the awkwardness of the Bialya mission that he and Artemis could spend a whole afternoon together without wanting to kill each other. He had fun with the blonde archer that day, and he found himself actually _wanting_ to spend _more_ time with her. They were friends now, right? So he could totally ask her to hang out with him without making it sound like he was crushing on her. Because there was absolutely no way he _liked_ her like that! It was just important that they got along…for the team. Yeah, the team. Because denial wasn't just a river in Egypt.

Fortunately for Kid Flash, his next opportunity to spend some quality time with Artemis came sooner than he expected.

It was a Wednesday afternoon, and Wally rushed to Mount Justice the second school let out. The team was required to check in at least three times during the week in addition to all weekends unless otherwise specified by Batman. Wally was hoping Robin would be there so they could unlock the next level in Assassin Zombies IV on the big screen. What Wally found was an empty common room save for Artemis at a table working on homework.

"Where is everyone?" Wally asked, walking toward the table.

"Megan is out grocery shopping with Robin and Superboy, and Kaldur is training with Black Canary," she replied, not bothering to look up. She then let out a frustrated sigh before frantically erasing everything she had just written down.

"Whatcha working on?" Kid Flash asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Honors biology," came her disgruntled reply. "I don't even know how I got into this class! It just showed up on my schedule, and I have no idea what the teacher is talking about half the time!" She threw her pencil down at the unfinished homework.

Wally looked down at the book and at the unanswered questions. "Oh, it's haploid verses diploid gametes and mitotic division."

"Huh?" came Artemis's intelligent response.

"I learned this stuff a few years ago for one of my science projects," he told her.

"You took advanced biology in middle school?" she asked, incredulous.

Wally shrugged. "I'm kind of a science nerd; stuff like this just clicks for me. Do you want me to try to explain it to you?"

Artemis threw her hands in the air. "Be my guest."

Wally pulled up a chair next to her, grabbed a new sheet of paper and her pencil, and began to draw a simple diagram. "Okay, so here you have the haploid gamete…"

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><p>Rather than use the teleporting system, Robin, Megan, and Superboy entered Mount Justice through the front door carrying several boxes of groceries. They were laughing and talking as they walked toward the kitchen when they ran into Aqualad.<p>

"Kaldur, what—"

"Shhh," Kaldur put a finger to his lips then pointed around the corner.

Four heads peaked around the corner, and the newcomers' eyes widened at what they saw. Kid Flash and Artemis were sitting at the same table and not trying to kill each other. In fact, Artemis was even _smiling_ at the speedster as he animatedly explained something to the archer.

"So it's all part of the cloning process?" she questioned, writing down her response to the last question.

"Yeah, kind of like the technology used to create Superboy," Wally replied, smiling.

"What about me?" Superboy demanded. Robin, Megan, and Kaldur face palmed themselves as Superboy gave away their location and began walking toward the table. His teammates followed, setting their groceries on the kitchen counters.

"Oh, I was just explaining the cloning process to Artemis," Wally explained, handing Superboy the sheet of paper he had been using. Superboy seemed to consider the drawings, and his teammates wondered if he even understood what was on the paper.

Artemis packed her stuff back up in her backpack. "Thanks for explaining that, Wally. It makes more sense now."

Wally stood up, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Sure, anytime." His stomach growled loudly. "I guess all this thinking and explaining works up an appetite."

"Yeah," Artemis could feel her stomach growling too as she slung her book bag over her shoulder. "Come to think of it, I kind of want a hamburger."

"You know, there's this place on the west side of Gotham that makes the best hamburgers…" Wally left the statement hanging as he stood up from his chair.

"No way! Ringo's Diner in downtown Gotham makes the best burgers hands down," Artemis argued.

"Wanna bet?" Wally crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"You're on! Loser buys ice cream," Artemis shot back as the two headed toward the transporter.

"Fine. Just remember I like my banana splits with extra hot fudge," Wally told her, smirking.

"Recognized, Kid Flash. B03. Recognized, Artemis. B07."

The other four teammates stared after the departing teens, stunned. "They do realize we just went grocery shopping, right?" Superboy asked no one in particular.

"I'm pretty sure they have more than just food on the mind," came Aqualad's response as he began to put stuff in the refrigerator.

Robin snorted. "Unlikely. KF is always thinking about food. Well, food and-"

"Girls," Megan finished for him, stowing the last of the canned goods.

"So, are they…together?" Superboy asked confusedly.

"Too early to tell," came Robin's response. "But if this keeps up, I bet you they'll be together in six months—if they haven't killed each other."

Aqualad smirked. "You're on. But I bet it'll take more than six months. They're both too stubborn and oblivious."

"Superboy?" Robin turned toward the Kryptonian.

"Six weeks?" Superboy suggested, causing Robin and Aqualad's jaws to drop.

"Dude, seriously? There's no way," Robin told him. "Megan?" They turned toward the martian.

Megan grinned a mischievous grin. "I bet you all they'll be together by the end four months."

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><p><strong>AN: Future warning: there will be (SMALL) mentions of the Suparmartian pairing throughout the story. This is not necessarily because I am a hardcore shipper of that couple, but because it's happening in the cannon YJ series. And I always do what is cannon... except when I don't. **


	3. Circle Me, the Needle Moves Gracefully

**A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter and supplied feedback :) I appreciate the support and the critiques. This chapter took a couple weeks to pound through, probably because I ended up differing my style a bit by actually writing out a mission. It was a pain, and I still really only like the beginning and the ending. But it was getting too long, and I had to get rid of it. I hope you enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Circle Me and the Needle Moves Gracefully<strong>

Kid Flash collapsed on his bed in his home in Central City, tired but content. He had just gotten back from spending three hours with Artemis at the Gotham Museum of Applied Sciences. She had been at Mount Justice the last few nights studying for an upcoming physics test, and Wally, after much arguing and arm pulling (both figurative and literal), managed to convince her to take a study break. He knew Artemis had not been amused when he brought her to the museum, but after going through the various exhibits, she began to enthusiastically participate in the different hands-on activities with him. Kid Flash recalled an image of her in the laser exhibit, eyes furrowed in concentration, biting her lip as she attempted to manipulate the different prisms. He remembered her happy expression as she turned to him, having successfully completed the instructions on the plaque. Her smiling at him like that caused his heart to jump to a rhythm he was sure would send a cardiologist into panic. Something so small really shouldn't have been able to elicit such a reaction from him.

That particular outing had been more fun than the one three weeks before when he zoomed over to Gotham Academy during a free period to have lunch with her. He ran them over to Ringo's Diner (because as much as Kid Flash hated to admit it, they did make the best burgers in Gotham) where they wasted away half an hour talking, arguing, and laughing about nothing. Kid Flash told himself it was just to cheer up Artemis from having to deal with the snobs at the Academy. Then again, he didn't even remember to invite Robin along.

And he really couldn't use the school excuse for last week when, after finishing a patrol in Gotham with the team to pursue a dead-end tip off regarding the blockbuster formula, he opted to walk with Artemis on her way home. He insisted to his teammates that he was already headed in her direction to go to the old drive-in movie theater. It was showing an old action flick, and at some point during the walk he convinced Artemis to watch the movie with him. They spent an unusually quiet, peacefully night atop of an old building, their legs dangling off the edge as they watched the big screen. How Artemis's head ended up on his shoulder and his arm ended up behind her back Kid Flash couldn't tell you.

In fact, it had been almost five months of spontaneous outings like these before Kid Flash became suspicious that they were actually dating. DATING! Him and Blondie of all people! He was just trying to get to know her so they would get along better on missions. In fact, he could count the number of arguments they had that week on both hands…and maybe a foot… And sure, it _was _only Wednesday, but it was still an improvement!

Kid Flash tried to recall the last time he'd flirted with another girl besides Artemis (and when exactly did he _start_ flirting with her?), and he began to panic when he couldn't even remember the last time he had playfully _bantered_ with Megan. Surely it had been within the last week or two? It was enough to send the speedster into a mild panic.

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><p>Wally booked it to Mount Justice the next evening and found Robin doing acrobatic exercises in the gym. "Hey Rob, where's Megan?" he asked the Boy Wonder, determined to return some sense of normalcy by flirting with the amiable martian.<p>

"She's with Superboy, why?" Robin asked from his upside down position.

"With Superboy? At this time of night?" Wally raised his eyebrows.

"It's called a date, KF. Sheesh. You should know about that." Robin flipped onto the floor and walked toward his water bottle.

"When did they start dating?" Kid Flash demanded, shocked at this new development. How had he missed something like that?

"About the same time as you and Artemis," Robin replied, taking a long swig of water.

"Artemis and I are NOT dating!"

Robin smirked at his clueless best friend. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, KF," he called over his shoulder as he headed toward the showers.

"WE'RE NOT!" Wally insisted, shouting at the retreating back of Robin.

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><p>"We are not dating," Kid Flash announced to the archer, walking into the room she occupied at Mount Justice.<p>

Artemis, bent over a coffee table making new arrows, looked up confusedly. "What?"

"We are not dating," Kid Flash repeated.

"What are you talking about?" she questioned again, not sure she heard him correctly.

"Everyone seems to think we're dating! And we're not!" His frustration was evident.

"And by everyone, you mean Robin, right?" she asked, glancing down the shaft of her newest arrow.

"Him…Our teammates…Hell, our mentors probably even think we're dating!"

Artemis put down the arrow she was holding, trying hard not to snap it in frustration. "Then what do YOU call what we've been doing all these months?"

Wally paused, trying to think of a legitimate term for what they had been doing all this time. "They're just… a bunch of random occasions… where we hang out together… and do fun stuff. I mean, I've never even kissed you or anything!" He finished lamely, belatedly realizing that he had practically defined the term 'dating.'

Artemis was thinking of the many ways she could impale the insufferable boy with her new arrow. Was he seriously saying that all those outings didn't mean anything? Had he just been playing her? She didn't think Wally would purposely do that, so she assumed he was being daft as usual and needed to be…_enlightened_. Slowly, an evil grin spread across Artemis's face. "That's because you're _afraid_," she taunted, turning back to her task.

"I am NOT afraid!" Kid Flash shot back, outraged.

Artemis brushed off the comment like she didn't care. "Yeah, you are. You're afraid of what I might do to you if you ever tried to date me." She shrugged. "It's okay. Lots of guys are intimidated by me."

"You _so_ do NOT intimidate me, Blondie," Kid Flash argued back, crossing his arms. He did not want to give her the satisfaction of having the upper hand.

Artemis stood up, turned around and walked toward the speedster. "Prove it," she challenged, jabbing her finger into his chest. He was totally playing into her hands.

Sometimes super speed had its advantages. Kid Flash caught himself half a millisecond before he was about to show Artemis just how NOT afraid he was when he realized once again that she was dictating the terms of the argument. Hadn't Black Canary taught them about this months ago? How had she turned the tables so easily on him? Perhaps it was best to wait, think this one through, and let her sweat out his response. Then he would show his blonde teammate what he thought of her so called "intimidation."

Kid Flash looked down into her eyes, a smirk slowly playing across his face. "Oh, I will, Artemis. I will."

Artemis thought he'd kiss her right then. She'd braced herself, prepared for it mentally, and planned out her response. But Kid Flash continued to be unpredictable. He was out of sight in a moment; only a brief gust of wind showing any indication that he had actually been there.

"Chicken," she muttered, oddly disappointed with his response-or rather lack thereof. She sat back down to make one of her explosive arrows, a stray wisp of hair escaping her pony tail. Artemis went to push it behind her ear when she felt something soft stuck in the side. How had she not noticed before? She tugged the object out. There, in her palm, lay a single sunflower. It reminded her of Kansas.

A small smile formed, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. She had issued a challenge to Kid Flash, and Artemis certainly was not going to let him win with head games. Did he think sticking a flower in her hair without her noticing proved something? Because it didn't! Perhaps she should just chuck the flower in the garbage.

Still, flowers were nice. Even if they were from an oblivious, idiotic speedster who was probably plotting a sneak attack to show her he wasn't afraid of her. Artemis carefully placed the flower back into the base of her pony tail and continued to work. She would simply have to be more cautious in Mount Justice from now on.

Wally sped past the door, pausing long enough to see the flower still in place. A genuine smile formed as he sped off to the common room. It at least proved she wasn't mad enough at him to start trashing everything he gave her.

What it didn't do was help Wally come up with a plan. He wasn't sure just how he was going to show Artemis that she didn't scare him, that he was more than a match for her, that she didn't cause him momentary breathlessness when she wore her hair down, and that he never underwent cardiac arrest while waiting for her approval when he brought her somewhere new on one of their many excursions.

Kid Flash shook his head violently as though to rid himself of those last thoughts. Maybe it wasn't Artemis that scared him. Although, admitting that he was dating a girl like Artemis seemed to be a rather surreal concept. Hell, he was an immature, nerdy, fifteen year old womanizer! Artemis was a loyal, badass, hotheaded, beautiful, strong girl who would knock a guy's lights out just as soon as look at him. And besides, inter-team dating probably violated all sorts of Justice League codes (not to mention violation of the Bro Code when it came to Red Arrow).

But if Kid Flash took a long, honest look at the data at hand, there were some conclusions he couldn't avoid. Truthfully, maybe he did like Artemis as more than a teammate and friend, and maybe he _had _been trying to date her, or court her, or whatever. But deep down, he was scared to commit- to finalize and seal the relationship. Not that he had much experience with anything beyond brief dating, but he knew committing meant leaving yourself open to hurt. Wally knew without a doubt that Artemis could hurt him in more ways than just the physical.

Robin's question from all those months ago floated through his thoughts: would it be worth it?

* * *

><p>Artemis could not even begin to fathom what Kid Flash was planning to do to prove that he wasn't afraid of her. This upped her normally cautious nature to borderline Batman-like paranoia. Normally, Artemis's teammates would brush off these idiosyncrasies and attribute them to the unusual brand of flirting her and Kid Flash seemed to engage in. But Megan decided to hold an intervention when Artemis randomly burst through an unused hallway, pulled her aside, jumped off the second floor ledge with the martian still in tow, and hid them in an unused weapons closet.<p>

"Umm…Artemis, what are you doing?" Megan asked as they sat under a closet shelf in the dark.

"Shhhhh." Artemis put her ear up to the door. "I think I lost him," she whispered to the martian. Usually, she wouldn't have bothered to drag Megan along, but she couldn't risk the green-skinned girl giving away her location to the next person who asked.

"Lost who?" asked Megan, confused at the archer's unusual behavior.

"Wally," Artemis replied, cracking the door open to peer out.

Megan shut the door. "Hey! What gives?" Artemis demanded.

"What gives? Artemis, what's going on? Why are you acting so strange? And why are you hiding from Wally?" Megan asked, arms crossed.

Artemis listened at the door. After confirming no one was there, she turned toward Miss Martian. "I think I did something really stupid." Megan raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. "I sort of… challenged Wally?"

"What kind of challenge?"

"Well, he was being an idiot," Artemis began. "And he said that all this time we've been spending together doesn't mean we're dating."

"WHAT?" Megan exclaimed. Artemis quickly shushed her and listened at the door, but no one passed by. "Then what does he call it?"

"Hanging out," Artemis snorted.

"So, what was the challenge about?" Megan asked.

"Well, he said it didn't count as dating because he hadn't kissed me yet."

"WHAT?" Megan yelled again, surprise laced with slight outrage evident in her voice.

"Shhhh, Megan!" Artemis whispered. "So I told him he was too scared of me to do anything."

"Ahh." Comprehension dawned on the martian. "So now he's out to prove you wrong."

"Yeah, and I have to be on constant alert because I have no idea what he's planning!"

"Does this mean you're really scared of him and what he'll do?" Megan asked the archer.

"No!" Artemis said, a little too loudly. "I can take whatever that moron can dish out!"

"Good," Megan smiled. "Because he's here."

"Wha—"

The door burst open, revealing a red headed teenaged speedster accompanied by the Boy Wonder. "Batman wants us in the assignment room," Robin told the two girls, trying to hide his amusement.

"Hey! Are you two playing sardines? Because I'd like to be the mayo on that sandwich," Kid Flash said.

Artemis socked him in the kidney for that comment after climbing out of the closet. She headed toward the assignment room, acting like she hadn't just sucker punched Kid Mouth. She didn't have time for boy mind games when there were missions to be pwned.

* * *

><p>"A shipment of venom has been traced to this Metropolis docking bay," Batman began when the team had assembled. He pointed to a map projection. "We don't know if this is the venom formula laced with the blockbuster complex or just regular venom. There are three warehouse nightclubs in the vicinity that may be buying up this drug and selling it to patrons." Three red dots lit up next to the dock. "Your mission is to find which clubs are buying, to get a sample of the formula, and to destroy the rest. It is imperative that the public not get their hands on this."<p>

Batman turned to the young team assembled before him. "This mission requires complete civilian camouflage. Whoever is behind this is already familiar with this team, and I don't want anyone to recognize you. I expect your estimated time of arrival to be no later than 22:30. Get ready." Batman left the room without another word.

The team glanced at the clock on the wall that read 20:37. "Time for us to change. We'll meet back here at 21:30. That should give everyone enough time," Aqualad told the group.

Megan, being able to easily alter her appearance, opted to follow Artemis and help the archer with her disguise.

* * *

><p>The clock on the back wall read 10:47. Superboy could barely make out the glowing numbers among the flashing strobe lights. He and Kid Flash had been dispatched as a team to the club in the northeast warehouse, Artemis and Miss Martian went to the south club, and Robin and Aqualad took the east club closest to the water. Aqualad disliked dividing the team into such small groups, but it was the most efficient way to search for the suppliers. His backup plan should all three warehouses be supplied was to converge on the largest supplier first before addressing the other two.<p>

Superboy thought about the plan as he glanced down at the fake ID Robin had provided. A very blond copy of himself stared back, and Superboy tried not to scratch the aforementioned sprayed hair. He glanced back at the clock now reading 10:48. Kid Flash told Superboy to give him five minutes to search the club for any signs of venom shipments before coming to get him. The speedster certainly had seemed in a hurry. Well, more of a hurry than usual. Superboy wasn't sure why Kid Flash wanted to be done so quickly, but he wasn't going to complain if it got him away from the obnoxious techno music blaring from the speakers.

So while Wally searched the club at super speed, Superboy settled into a dark corner to watch the patrons and use his super hearing to pick out conversations that may give any hint of a new drug on the market. It took most of his focus to tune out the music and pick out human voices.

The clock read 10:52 when Wally promptly returned to the main dance floor. Superboy almost didn't see the speedster as his red hair was now sprayed black and under a backward baseball cap.

"Find anything?" he asked.

Kid Flash shook his head. "You?"

Superboy stood up. "Yeah, I overheard a conversation from a group of guys after you left. They mentioned some dealer at the Caged Rage having this new product that supposedly gives the user super powers."

"The Caged Rage? Isn't that where Artemis and Megan are?" Kid Flash asked. Superboy shrugged. "Come on, we'll leave out the back door," Wally told him as they headed toward the opposite end of the warehouse.

It wasn't until they were outside out of sight of the club before Wally radioed Aqualad. "Kid Flash to Aqualad, do you copy?"

There was some static and loud music followed by Kaldur's voice. "I read you, barely. Any sign of venom shipments?" Kid Flash filled their leader in on the situation. The com link went silent for a few moments before Kaldur spoke again. "Okay, Robin's contacting Miss Martian and Artemis now. Superboy, go meet up with them at the south warehouse. Kid Flash, meet Robin and I here to complete the sweep of the east club. If it's clear, we'll all rendezvous at the south end."

Kid Flash saluted Superboy before speeding off to find Robin and Aqualad. He didn't bother to wait in line to get in, opting to zoom past one of the bouncers at the back door instead. The sweep took even less time than the first club as the building was much smaller, and soon Kid Flash was searching for signs of his friends. Spotting the fake dreadlocks on his teammate, Kid Flash quickly made his way over to Aqualad standing next to a water fountain.

"Did you find the drug?" Aqualad asked.

Kid Flash adjusted his cap and shook his head. "It's not here. I did see a large group of guys leave out the back door and head south. We might be able to follow them if Robin shows up soon."

"Dude, I'm right here," Robin said, materializing next to Kid Flash and causing him to jump slightly.

"You just love to do that, don't you?" Kid Flash crossed his arms, looking miffed at his now-blond best friend.

"It never gets old," Robin agreed. Kaldur simply rolled his eyes as the trio headed outside. After informing Superboy, Artemis, and Megan of their status via com link, the three teammates managed to locate the group of guys headed toward the Caged Rage.

Aqualad and Kid Flash were about to follow when they felt Robin grip the backs of their shirts. "Wait," Robin hissed. "We have to hang back or they'll know we're following them." The group had almost walked out of sight before the trio of superheroes headed after them.

The Caged Rage was, by far, the largest, dingiest club waterside of Metropolis. Lots of illegal activities went down there, so it made sense that it was the best candidate to house the blockbuster/venom compound.

Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash stood in line to get into the club several people behind the group they were following. Kid Flash had wanted to zoom in ahead, but Aqualad shot down that idea, saying it would draw too much attention to them and it could alert the supplier to their presence. So Kid Flash tapped his foot impatiently while he waited for the line to move up.

Eventually, the trio made it inside (although the bouncer didn't look entirely convinced that Robin was really 18). They easily spotted the now-blond Superboy who was conversing with a tan, pretty brunette girl sporting a black halter dress and stilettos. The bright purple streaks in her short hair seemed highlighted by the black lights hanging from the ceiling. Robin wished Artemis hadn't helped Megan come up with such a superb disguise; she was attracting a lot of notice from other male patrons despite the towering presence of Superboy.

Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin joined their other teammates off to the side. Aqualad was about to speak, but Kid Flash beat him to it.

"Where's Artemis?" the speedster questioned, his eyes darting all around the expansive dance floor crowded with moving bodies.

"That's what I was just talking to Superboy about," Megan bit her lip, a sure sign of apprehension. "We started our search together upstairs and didn't find anything. Then Artemis saw this group of guys on this level by the bar. We watched them talk to the bartender who left and came back with another man. I couldn't see his face, and Artemis started to act-" Megan hesitated, as though afraid to betray her 'earth sister,'-"different. Almost fidgety. The man left after talking to one of the guys for a minute or two. When I looked next to me, Artemis was gone. I turned back to the group downstairs, and she was there, talking to the same guy as the man."

"Then what happened?" Aqualad asked.

Miss Martian's eyes briefly flicked over to Kid Flash before continuing. "Well, she was talking and laughing with him-" Kid Flash's eyes narrowed at this –"and I was about to go down to her when she looked at me and tapped her forehead. I put up a mental link between us, but her thoughts were so…disjointed from her emotions and the loud music that all I got was 'basement,' 'bartender,' and 'venom cocktail.' When I looked back down, she was walking toward the private V.I.P. basement entrance with that group of guys."

Robin, knowing his best friend was seconds away from doing something stupidly impulsive, laid a hand on the speedster's shoulder. Kid Flash glanced over questioningly, but Robin merely shook his head. _No,_ the look said to Kid Flash. _Wait for Aqualad's instructions._ Wally sometimes hated Dick's intuitive powers.

"How long ago was that?" Aqualad inquired, trying to formulate a new plan.

"Just before Superboy arrived, so maybe thirty minutes ago? I tried talking to her over the com link, but she hasn't responded. Wherever she is, I don't think she can talk. I tried to link up to her mind, but the music is making it hard to concentrate, and there are so many people here that I'm having a hard time finding her," Megan replied, looking incredibly worried.

"Wait, you said something about the bartender going to get a man to talk to the group?" Kid Flash asked. Megan nodded.

"The venom cocktail—it's code for getting the blockbuster formula!" Robin said, eyes darting to the far entrance to the basement. "If a group of us go to the bar and ask for the codeword—"

"Then it should lead us to the suppliers downstairs," finished Aqualad. "Miss Martian, I need you and Robin to sneak past the bouncer at the basement entrance and be ready to provide cover for us should things go wrong."

"Where are we going?" Superboy asked, crossing his arms.

Aqualad's smile held no humor as he turned to Superboy and Kid Flash. "We're going to order us a venom cocktail."

* * *

><p>Artemis never told herself she was in over her head. She exuded confidence, which was good…except when it came back to bite her in the ass. Should she have waited for the team? Maybe, but then the opportunity would have disappeared. And Artemis hated to waste an opportunity. Granted, she could have brought Miss Martian with her, but with her luck the alien wouldn't properly seduce her way into the VIP room. Still, Artemis decided it would be wise to give the team a heads up on the situation. So she slipped Miss Martian a few thoughts that she knew the rest of the team would piece together. Artemis only hoped that the martian hadn't accidentally picked up a thought about the archer's father, who was currently roaming the club.<p>

Getting the moronic guy to bring her down to the VIP area with his cronies was a rather simple task. She simply challenged, appeased, flirted, and inflated his ego. She was taught that particular technique by someone she'd rather forget at the moment. Artemis preferred to focus on one person at a time from her past, and her father had already claimed that spot tonight.

Now, as she was pinned to the guy's side with his arm around her waist, Artemis wondered what her next move should be. They were currently watching yet another cage match in a poorly designed arena below. The whole arrangement was incredibly simple: both parties were infused with venom then turned loose on each other. What Artemis wanted to know was when the more…_permanent_ concoction would be distributed. She also wanted to know where her father went. Perhaps he had seen through her disguise? It was quite thorough. Her hair was black, her contacts were brown, and her spray-on tan was just the right shade of orange to give off the air of a girl who paid too much attention to her appearance. Her strapless top was dark red, flashy and went well with the black skinny jeans and stilettos. Well, if she couldn't pass off as a self absorbed girl, Kid Flash had wasted no time in informing her she could be an oompa loompa. Her eyes narrowed at that thought. Kid Flash, that idiotic, conceited, jerk face-

"Hey Babe, I think I'm up next," her current minion (as she liked to think of him, seeing as he only really served one purpose for her in this mission) interrupted her thoughts. She tried not to cringe as he leaned in and she nearly succeeded in not causing him physical harm for the 'Babe' comment. _Nearly._

"Ouch!" the guy rubbed the part of his jaw that had _accidentally_ come into contact with the top of Artemis's head.

"Ooh, sorry _Babe_," Artemis crooned in a fake sympathetic voice that was totally out of character. She traced a finger along his jaw, and he was putty in her hands once more. "I just got carried away watching the match. But I can make it better," she purred, taking the opportunity to look over his shoulder toward the exit. Surely, her teammates should be on their way down—

Her hair was yanked back. Artemis, thinking it was her "minion," went to grab his wrist and show him what she thought of hair pulling when she grasped thin air. She was shoved up against the wall, her hands pinned in a position she was quite familiar with, having performed it on many a captive herself. Her legs likewise were pressed against the wall, restrained by the weight of her captor.

"Artemis, Artemis, I thought we taught you better than this," came the man's voice in her ear.

Artemis tensed momentarily, ready to fight back, but thought feigning innocence might be better in the current scenario. "I don't know what you're talking about. My name is Jessica. You're confusing me with someone else. I'm just here to watch my guy fight."

Her father chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. You'll see your guy fight."

And that was how Artemis found herself tossed into the fenced in arena below facing the guy only minutes before she had been fake flirting with. Except he was now infused with the venom/blockbuster compound. Her father hadn't even bothered to stick around once the match had begun. She glanced across the circular pit, thankful for her opponent's momentary pain that distracted him from directly attacking her. She looked for a way out, but they had been locked in. Artemis climbed up the side of the enclosure, looking at the only exit to the basement only to meet with a pair of bright green eyes. It was the first and last person Artemis wanted to see given her situation.

Miss Martian, hovering in camouflage mode above the team, followed Kid Flash's line of vision, saw Artemis trapped in the arena, and immediately set up the mental link. This not only put everyone on the same page, but it gave Robin enough time to restrain his best friend from doing something rash…again.

"_Quick! Sportsmaster is running the operation, and he's getting away!" _Artemis thought, sparing another glance back at her opponent who had recovered and was running toward her.

"_Superboy! Help Artemis! Robin, Miss Martian- find Sportsmaster! Kid, search for any remains of the formula!" _Aqualad ordered, causing a massive surge of water to come out through the fire sprinklers. Everyone began shouting and running to the exit, ignoring Superboy as he ripped a hole in the arena large enough for Artemis to crawl out. Unfortunately for Artemis, the newly infused monster grabbed her ankle as she was halfway out and flung her back to the other side of the pit. Superboy wasted no time in ripping the hole wider and joining the fray. Aqualad, satisfied that everyone was evacuating, suddenly found himself surrounded by Sportsmaster's remaining minions.

Kid Flash found one hidden container of venom, but no sign of the combination formula. _"I've got one box of venom. Sportsmaster must've taken the rest,"_ Kid Flash informed the team.

"_Robin, Miss Martin, what is your status?"_ Aqualad grunted out as he finally abandoned his disguise and whipped out his watery weapons.

"_No sign of him or his transport," _came Robin's response. _"And he didn't leave any records other than a list of cage matches and their winners."_

"_He's out of my telepathic range,"_ Miss Martian said. _"I can't track him."_

"_Okay, everyone regroup back at the arena,"_ Aqualad commanded as he dropped another bad guy.

Kid Flash was the first one back on the scene followed by Robin and Miss Martian. Seeing the rest of his team return, Aqualad opted to help Superboy and Artemis deal with the formula-infused guy who was alternatively dodging punches from the Kryptonian and toxin-laced darts from the archer's miniature crossbow.

Eventually, every one of the minions was tied up, and Artemis had shot enough laced darts in enough vital areas that one more solid punch from Superboy knocked out the blockbuster/venom monster.

Then, as subtly as six super teenagers moving a freak of nature and twenty captives could be, the team radioed Batman at the rendezvous location, two clicks from the warehouse on one of the tanker docking stations. They didn't have to wait long for his arrival as well as several other league members including Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter.

Once the captives were squared away, Batman began their debriefing aboard the bioship. "The man infused with the compounded formula will be sent to Star Labs for analysis. We should be able to synthesize a copy…"

Kid Flash zoned out as Batman droned on with the lecture. Usually, he'd pay special attention to debriefings involving chemical compounds and science-related information. But thoughts of Artemis in the cage, eyes wide, trying to find an escape, largely consumed his mind. And how could he forget watching her be flung to the other side of the arena like some sort of rag doll? Kid Flash was grateful that Robin at least had a clear head when it came to dire situations like this. KF knew that he couldn't rip apart chain link with his bare hands with the ease that Superboy could, but that wasn't about to stop him from trying.

No, this would not do. He couldn't afford to be distracted on missions; it would endanger both him and his teammates. Kid Flash needed to do something about him and Artemis, to fix whatever it was he had started to ruin before it was too late. He glanced at the archer sitting next to him, eyeing the mud-covered, torn ensemble and wet hair, black dye slowly streaking down the side of her arms.

Eventually, the bioship arrived back at Mount Justice. Everyone immediately trudged inside for a shower, but Kid Flash waited for Artemis to disembark. She moved slower than usual, no doubt due to being flung by that monster earlier.

Artemis was about to brush past Kid Flash, but he grasped her wrist. "We need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you," she bit out venomously, pulling her arm away.

"Then you'll just have to listen to me," Kid Flash told her, sweeping her up in his arms.

"Hey! You better not—"

Artemis never finished her sentence; Kid Flash had already taken off at super speed, rendering Artemis momentarily speechless. She wanted to hate him right now, she really did. But moving at hundreds of miles a second was exhilarating, and the thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie inside Artemis secretly relished traveling like this.

Not a minute later, Artemis found herself being set down gently. Right after gathering her bearings, she aimed a punch at Kid Flash. He caught it with ease, and she wondered when she had become so predictable.

"We need to talk," he repeated, allowing her to pull her hand from his grasp.

"You're an asshole, Kid! You know that, right?" Oh yes, he'd definitely pissed her off this time.

"Look, I just-"

"I thought you were actually turning out to be a nice guy!" Artemis ranted, not even really conscious of what was coming out of her mouth. She was tired, sore, and frustrated, and Kid Flash was currently pushing all the right buttons to set her off.

Wally tried again. "I know, and I'm sorry. I was—"

"And then it turns out everything is just some stupid joke to you! Like when you said you were out to prove me wrong when—"

"Is that why you've been avoiding me this whole last week?" Kid Flash interrupted. "Look, I didn't mean to scare you off when I said that—"

"I'm not scared of what you're going to do!" she shouted before turning her back toward him. Artemis took a deep breath, finally calming down. "I'm scared of what you're already doing to me," she whispered.

Kid Flash wasn't sure he heard her correctly. "What?" he asked

"One of the first rules of combat: never give the opposition an opening to hurt you. And I failed, Kid. I left myself wide open." She turned to face him. "And you took the shot."

"Artemis, I-"

"No, don't say it." She held up a hand to stop him. "I don't want to hear your excuses or apologies. It's probably best that this, whatever 'this' is, ends here." She looked down at the ground

"NO! Don't say that. Look, that's why I brought you here," Wally gestured to the dark canyon below.

"To throw me off?" she asked sarcastically. "Really, Baywatch? Is that nec-" Kid Flash cut her off by sealing his mouth over hers. He held her face in between his hands, kissing her as though he was a dying man in the Sahara Desert and she was his last drop of water. For a brief moment, Artemis's mind had gone blissfully blank; her only link to reality was his warm hands cupping her face.

All too soon Wally broke off from the kiss, his forehead touching hers as he gazed into her eyes. Artemis looked up at him with a vulnerability he had never seen before. The vulnerability was replaced with confusion when he suddenly released her face, backed up to the very edge of the cliff and spread his arms out wide. "You can toss me over if you want now, and I promise I won't try to stop you. But I want you to know that I'm not scared of you or whatever this crazy relationship qualifies as. I'm more afraid of this ending than anything you can do to me. I care about you, Artemis. And I know now that whatever we have—it'll be worth it, so I'm not running anymore. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out."

"Wally…"

"Just tell me what you want. And I don't care if the entire planet knows that—" he turned and shouted into the canyon- "WALLY WEST IS DATING ARTEMIS CROCK!"

Artemis smiled as his voice echoed into the night. "I don't think that's necessary," she said, sauntering toward him. "But tell me, how long have we been dating?" she asked, a dangerous smirk playing across her features.

Wally's mouth open and closed several times with no words coming out. _That_ was the million dollar question, and he definitely didn't want to get the answer wrong. "If we count the motorcycle incident…it'll be five months."

The grin was still in place as she inched closer to the speedster. "So, you admit you've been dating me for five months?"

Wally sighed, sensing an "I told you so" moment was about to happen. "Yes."

Artemis tossed her head back and laughed. "For being such a womanizer, you sure do take forever to kiss a girl."

A sly grin found its way to Wally's face. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to make up for lost time," he told her as he pulled her in for another kiss.

He broke off from this kiss almost as abruptly as the first one. "What?" Artemis demanded, miffed that Kid Flash had finally found a good use for his mouth and wasn't employing it.

"You do agree that we've been dating for five months, right?" Wally asked her.

"Yeah..."

"Then I have a question for you."

Artemis noted that his eyes darted to the side before slowly meeting hers once more. She could tell he was nervous, and suddenly she could feel butterflies of anticipation in her own stomach. "What's that?"

He took a deep breath. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I assume Wally knows her last name after seeing it on her homework assignments, in case you were wondering. Well, I wash my hands of this nonsense and will start on the next chapter now :) Also, there will be a side story that occurs after this chapter and partially during the next. I don't want to give too much away, but it involves Red Arrow and Kid Flash, and seeing how it doesn't really show the progression of Wally and Artemis's relationship, it didn't seem fitting to post it under this story. Yes, I am shamelessly plugging my own stories in author notes. If you are still reading my author note at this point, I commend you and feel like I owe you something. So here it is: Random Fact 63465: Nutmeg is harmless if eaten, but poisonous if injected into your bloodstream. So beware ill-tempered chefs with their own supply of syringes/needles.**


	4. When You Dance with Me

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I think this was something like 13 pages in Word, so I hope that makes up for it. Also, I do try to reply to reviewers, but if you have the private messaging disabled, then I'm sad to say I can't :( I usually don't do this, but I would like to give a shout out to Endermoon, who has been faithfully reviewing these stories and always leaving constructive feedback. But Endermoon, for the love of chocolate, TURN ON YOUR PM! :)**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Young Justice. Because then I'd actually get to watch new episodes.**

* * *

><p><strong>I Can Still Feel Your Heart Beat Fast when You Dance with Me<strong>

She wasn't sure how this relationship was going to affect the team dynamic. She wasn't even sure how they were going to tell the team that they were now "official." Artemis really shouldn't have been worried; he had it all figured out.

Kid Flash marched into Mount Justice that next weekend in the evening, saw Artemis and Megan cutting out large stars from shinny, metallic paper on the common room floor, and purposely made a comment he knew Artemis would find irritating. Artemis couldn't even remember what he said. All she remembered was the heated argument that followed which culminated in Wally kissing her soundly in the middle of her rant.

"You're right, of course," he mumbled to her, tucking a stray blonde hair behind her ear and smirking as he walked to the kitchen.

Robin, who was sitting on a barstool by the kitchen, covered up his laughing with a sudden coughing fit. Aqualad spit out the water he had just finished drinking and nearly dropped the glass in his hand. Superboy, having just walked in from his training session with Black Canary, let go of the dumbbell he was carrying, his eyes wide in shock. Megan shot her a sly smile, causing Artemis to blush.

"Shut up," she hissed at the martian, then glared at the other boys, daring them to make a comment. Wally's head was in the fridge; he acted like planting one on Artemis in front of everyone was a perfectly normal occurrence.

Artemis sat back down on the floor, idly wondering if Batman would care if they were short a speedster because he had _accidentally_ been tossed off Mt. Justice. She began violently cutting out more decorations next to Megan, trying to ignore the knowing grin on the green girl's face. If their teammates weren't sure before, they definitely knew about her and Wally now. Belatedly, Artemis realized this was Wally's goal, and she had to give the speedster props. Rather than call a team meeting and make an awkward announcement in front of everyone, he simply showed the others where he and the archer stood. She let the genius of the plan sink in, realizing that he hadn't given their teammates any openings to ask embarrassing questions, though Artemis was pretty certain she would be grilled with inquiries by Megan later. She mentally cringed as this would probably involve hair braiding, nail painting, and possibly even an appearance by Black Canary. Speaking of which…

"Artemis, you're up," Black Canary told her from the doorway to the training room.

Artemis stood up and walked toward the blonde mentor, trying to ignore the knowing smirk gracing Black Canary's features. She was totally going to wipe the floor with her mentor's smile.

Kid Flash pulled his head out of the fridge after grabbing the milk, turning around only to be met by Robin's knowing grin.

"So…you and Artemis?" Kid Flash knew it wasn't really a question. More like a smug declaration.

"Yep," came the redhead's response before he took a long swig straight from the carton.

"How long?" Robin persisted, his smile growing wider. Superboy, Aqualad, and Miss Martin's heads all turned, intently focused on Kid Flash. Wally took in the stares of his friends and rolled his eyes. No doubt they had some sort of bet going and wanted to know who won.

"Five months," Kid Flash replied, putting the milk away, gratified by their crestfallen faces. Apparently no one had correctly predicted the timeframe. Well, Kid Flash was all about unpredictability and disproving non-scientific conjectures.

Unfortunately, Robin rapidly recovered from his disappointment and refused to drop the subject. "So…you've been official since…?" he inquired innocently. Kid Flash could have punched the bird boy in the face. He knew Wally too well.

"Last week," Kid Flash grumbled almost inaudibly. Robin began to cackle. Superboy and Aqualad looked amused. Megan's expression was ecstatic bordering indecently happy.

Kid Flash almost pitied Artemis. Almost. But Megan's torture would definitely make up for the fact that his girlfriend had stuck his favorite pair of sneakers to the roof of the cave two days ago with one of her new exploding sticky-gunk arrows. At least that was what Wally was calling them. It had taken him hours to remove the gum-like substance from the laces and fabric. Just thinking about that incident put his mind at ease.

* * *

><p>Wally continued to paddle down the stream of his guilt-free conscience until Artemis plopped on the couch next to him that night, huffing out loud, arms crossed. Then, in a startling transformation of character, she languidly reached across the speedster, snagging the television remote from his hand. The channel surfing commenced with no real anger.<p>

Wally took in Artemis's appearance. She was in her customary tank top and baggy shorts that she slept in, but her pony tail had dozens of little braids, each culminating in a pink hair tie. Her nails looked oddly sparkly, and Kid Flash could have sworn he saw the same shade of red nail polish on Black Canary's fingernails last week. Things looked grim, but Wally realized if Artemis was truly angry with him she wouldn't be halfway into his lap, resting her head on his arm.

"So," he began, "they tag team you?"

"Yep. Right after my shower."

"They ambushed you outside the locker room?"

Artemis snorted, pausing to look at the program on the History channel. "I barely left the shower stall! I didn't even have time to change! Megan stuffed me into one of those ridiculous nightgowns of hers that she bought at the mall, and Black Canary manhandled me into Megan's room. I've only just escaped."

"The braids are a nice touch," Wally informed her, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "And I love the nails. She do your toes too?"

Artemis stretched her legs in front of the speedster, flashing her new pedicure. "The red was okay, but Megan insisted on covering it with that sparkly crap. It's going to take weeks to wear off."

Wally tried to keep his eyes directed just towards his girlfriend's toes. Wally failed, and Artemis shot a knowing smirk back at him. Seeing that he had been caught in the act of ogling the part of her legs not covered, Wally mentally grasped for a different line of conversation. A thought struck him.

"You know, if you wanted to clear your nails you could just use acetone," Wally told her, his hand slowly wandering to the mess of plaits in Artemis's hair.

"Is that like nail polish remover?" she asked idly, pausing again on the comedy channel.

"Yeah, but it's stronger and works better. I'm sure one of the bathroom mirror cabinets here has a bottle. Want me to check?" he glanced down at her.

"Mmmm…maybe some other time," she yawned, bunkering down closer to Wally, sighing happily as he ran his fingers through the tied strands of her hair.

She flipped the channel again, landing on an old musical and setting down the remote. "_For worlds I'd not replace your sunny, funny face…"_ the man sang from the television.

Wally was only slightly surprised at her viewing choice; it suited her somehow. By the time the movie ended, Kid Flash had unraveled all of Megan's hard work on Artemis's mane, and Artemis was half asleep against the speedster.

"Hey, Beautiful, you asleep?" he asked, shutting off the TV.

"Mmmm…maybe," came her drowsy reply.

"Do you usually talk in your sleep?" He scooted forward.

Artemis's arms shot around his neck at a speed that surprised Kid Flash considering her current state. "Nope." She yawned again. Kid Flash took the hint and gave her piggy-back ride to her room. Gently depositing her on the bed, Wally tucked his girlfriend in, surprised that she was actually allowing him to do so without complaint.

"'Night, Artemis," he kissed her forehead.

Artemis shuddered. "S'cold in here."

"Want me to stay and keep you warm?" came the typical teenage boy inquiry.

"Goodnight, Wally," came Artemis's firm reply as she turned away from the door.

"You sure? Because-"

"Baywatch, you have one second to get out before I taser you."

Unexpectedly, Artemis found herself being soundly kissed by Wally. "One," he whispered in her ear before vanishing, her metal door hissing shut.

It took a few moments for Artemis to process the sheer audacity of what Wally had just pulled. He'd definitely be paying for it tomorrow. But until then…Artemis pressed her face into her pillow, giggling like a silly girl with a crush at a slumber party.

Somewhere down the hall, Superboy heard the noise and awoke in mild confusion.

* * *

><p>And so their relationship continued on for the next few weeks. Kid Flash would do something to Artemis, Artemis would retaliate, vice-versa, and they'd come together at the end of the day, no words necessary. Sometimes they were together with the team in Mt. Justice hanging out. Sometimes they were alone after a mission or a long day of school, watching a movie or working on homework. They still had the occasional "random outing" as Artemis liked to tease Wally when referring to their actual dates.<p>

One night, a blip occurred in the fragile routine of their established relationship: Artemis didn't come down to the common room to spend time with him. Wally would have normally brushed this off as her wanting to go to bed early, but he had hardly seen her at all that afternoon, and Megan had been suspiciously absent as well.

Determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, Wally marched upstairs to the bedrooms, pausing in front of Artemis's. He heard muffled voices coming within, and opted to knock before opening the door anyway.

"Artemis?" came his innocent inquiry.

He had to dodge two pairs of shoes and a stapler as his girlfriend shouted, "OUT! I'M BUSY!"

Megan, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of their violent flirting, stood up from her position on the rug and said, "I'm going to go get…more staples?" It came out more like a question than a statement, but the martian was gone before Artemis could protest.

Wally took half a millisecond to glance around and wondered what his mother would say about the state of his room if she could see what Artemis's looked like at the moment. The closet appeared to have thrown up the archer's wardrobe: clothes were strewn all over the futon, the dresser, the desk chair, the floor, and the bed. The part of the bed that wasn't covered was unmade. Then there were the scraps of metallic paper, streamers, fishing line, scissors, glitter, and glue all over the floor and coffee table. A small, neat stack of stars sat precariously at one end of the desk chair.

"Art project?" He asked, watching the blonde look for more projectiles that she didn't require at the moment. She was seriously considering throwing her scissors, but she needed them if she wanted to finish cutting stars out of the shiny paper.

"Go away, Wally. I have a shitload to do and not enough time to do it," she huffed, brushing away a stray hair from her eyes. Her state wasn't much better than her room's. Glitter stuck to her hair, clothes, and nose. Dried glue and confetti covered her fingers. Wally could make out dark circles under her eyes, and she hadn't bothered changing out of her school uniform.

It was really the uniform that sent red flags up for Wally. She hated wearing that uniform. Constantly complained and bitched about it. It was too itchy. It was too hot. It didn't cover enough in the winter. The dry cleaners had used too much starch in the skirt. Wally knew for a fact that the first thing Artemis did when she got home or arrived at the cave was change out of the uniform.

"Uh…do you need help?" he tentatively asked, wondering if she was going to start throwing things again.

"I DIDN'T UNTIL OUR TEAM LEADER DECIDED TO FLOOD THE LIVING ROOM!" Artemis exploded. Kid Flash knew better than to interrupt her on a rant, so he let the archer continue. "ALL MY DECORATIONS RUINED BECAUSE BIRD BOY HAD TO START A SUPER SOAKER FIGHT! LIVING ROOM FLOODED! AND I NEEDED THOSE FOR THE DANCE FRIDAY! NOW I HAVE TO MAKE ALL NEW ONES!"

She paused to take several deep breaths. Wally thought she looked ready to cry, but he knew she never would over something so trivial. He was about to ask her why she hadn't asked him to help her when something she said suddenly clicked.

"Wait-you're going to a dance on Friday and you didn't ask me to go with you?" he demanded indignantly.

"Wally, I'm being forced to go as it is. Why would I put you through that same torture?" She demanded, miffed that he was acting offended when she was the one that had been wronged.

"Have you ever been to a dance, Artemis?" the speedster asked, hands on hips.

"No, and I wouldn't of had to go to this one if I hadn't been tossed out of that game last month," she responded, angrily brushing glitter off her hands.

"You mean the one where you argued with the umpire about a bad strike called and he ejected you?" Wally asked. "What does that have to do with making decorations and going to a dance?"

"The Academy's counselor stuck me on the decoration committee for the Spring Fling Dance instead of giving me detention. She said my anger issues could be resolved if I channeled my energy and participated in more school activities," came her sullen reply. "And I had everything ready to go in a box by the couch so I wouldn't forget it tomorrow. But…"

"It was a causality of the water war," Kid Flash finished for her. "So what do you still need to do?"

Artemis gestured to a stack of silver paper. "I need to cut stars out of all those and tie them to different lengths of fishing line." She pointed to different colored streamers in the corner, "And those need to be twisted together. Megan already helped me finish making the signs."

Wally sat down, picked up a marker and grabbed the stack of silver paper. Before Artemis could protest, her boyfriend had traced a star pattern on every sheet in ten seconds.

"Pass me the scissors," he told her. Mouth agape, Artemis complied, mentally smacking herself for not asking him to help earlier. Not a minute later, Wally had a stack of stars and a pile of scrap paper.

He grinned up at her. "Why don't you show me how long you want the fishing line and I'll tie them to the stars? That way you can change out of that."

Artemis felt as though a huge weight had been lifted. She was so happy she could have kissed the redhead. So she did. Repeatedly.

Wally caught words like "the best," "amazing," "sweet," and "thank you" in between kisses until she finally picked up her pajamas and walked to the bathroom. Kid Flash was still mentally congratulating himself when she walked back into the room ten minutes later, hair dripping from her shower. He had just finished packing away the last few strands of streamers and set them in the box next to the stars.

Artemis picked her way across the floor to her desk and began putting away clothes.

"Couldn't find anything to wear?" Wally asked, attempting nonchalance as he sat back on the floor.

"_Megan_ couldn't find anything for me to wear. Then she blackmailed me into going dress shopping with her and Dinah," Artemis bit out scathingly, stuffing some shirts into her dresser rather angrily. "So I ended up getting that." She pointed to the one item still on a hanger. A bag covered it, but Wally thought he could make out a black and white dress.

"How did she manage that?" he inquired, picking up all the scrap paper, glitter, glue, and other decorating utensils.

"She had that photo strip from when we went to that state fair," Artemis told him. "You know, the one from the photo booth you dragged me into?" her tone was slightly accusatory. "Anyhow, she threatened to get Robin to post it all over the Academy's newsletter, so I had to go."

"Really?" KF asked, outraged. "She told me she wanted it to make some sort of scrapbook thing for you. She said it was going to be a surprise!"

"You actually gave it to her?" Artemis screeched, ready to exchange blows with her idiot boyfriend.

Wally stood up. "Hey! How was I supposed to know she was lying? I didn't think Megan was capable of doing something that…devious."

Before Artemis could reply, her door slid open again to reveal Miss Martian, box of staples in hand. "Umm…do you still need help? Or-" the martian paused, taking in Wally's shocked face and Artemis's murderous one. "I could come back later?" The door slid shut again.

Artemis ran over to unlock it and pursue her green teammate, snagging her bow and some new sticky-gunk arrows along the way. Unfortunately for her, the martian knew what was coming and was mentally keeping the door shut tight. Artemis tossed the arrows down in frustration and went back to putting away clothes. Wally opted to help, seeing how he couldn't vibrate his way out and Megan was currently blocking the exit.

"So," Wally began after a few moments of silence. "Are you going with anyone to the dance? Like a group of friends, I mean," he hurriedly covered, trying not to sound upset.

Artemis still picked up the distress. Sighing, she asked, "Wally, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

"Really?" he couldn't keep the hopeful inflection out of his voice. "You mean it? I mean-"

"Just answer the question, Baywatch," she told him exasperatedly.

Wally grinned. "Yeah, I'd like that. What time does it start?"

"Seven," came her muffled reply.

"So, pick you up at 8?"

"Why so late?" she asked, head poking out of the closet.

"It's fashionably late," he informed her. "Besides, you still get three good hours of dancing."

"Fine, West. But you'd better be on time to get me."

* * *

><p>Not only was Wally on time, but he did Artemis one better. He was ten minutes early, corsage at the ready; he wanted Artemis's first dance to be awesome. Paula Crock opened the door at his second knock, smiled, and welcomed the speedster in, offering him his customary sandwich that she always had at the ready whenever her daughter let it slip that he'd be dropping by.<p>

"My, but don't you look nice, Wally," Paula complemented him, rolling out of the kitchen into the living room.

"Thanks," Wally said, swallowing a mouthful of ham and cheese. "My Aunt helped me pick this out yesterday," he told her, gesturing to the black dress shirt, black slacks, and white tie.

"Well, you look very handsome. Don't you think so, Artemis?" Mrs. Crock turned toward the doorway that led to the bedrooms.

Wally followed the older woman's line of sight only to find all the air suddenly depleted from his lungs, no doubt used up by the rapidly ticking bomb in his chest.

The dress was a simple black thing with a scoop neck, wide straps, and a bit of chiffon sticking out just above her knees. A broad white sash added contrast just below the bust line. Black flats adorned her feet, simple hoops her ears.

But what really caught Wally's attention was her hair. Strands of spun gold in dozens and dozens of curls were held back by a simple black headband.

Artemis, aware of her boyfriend's awestruck expression and her mother's knowing smile, sought to bring back some semblance of sanity and replied, "Yeah, I guess," to her mother's inquiry. Wally continued to gape until Artemis cleared her throat and asked, "What's that for?"

Wally blinked back into reality, still wondering if the apparition in front of him was real and followed her finger pointing at the clear box he was carrying.

"Oh, this is for you," he unfastened the plastic lid and pulled out the small bunch of white roses and black ribbon. "It's a corsage. It goes around your wrist-" he slid the elastic band over the archer's hand, "-like that."

There was a flash of light, and both teens looked over to Paula Crock, camera in hand. "I couldn't help it," she told them, ignoring Artemis's look of indignation. "And you're not allowed to leave until I get a good shot of the two of you together."

"_Mom_," Artemis hissed.

"I mean it. And Artemis, smile," her mother told her, raising the camera to her eye as Wally hugged Artemis to his side.

Several flashes later, Mrs. Crock put the camera down, a stern look on her face. "Artemis, you look like you're about to serve a jail sentence. Wally, be a dear and see if you can't convince my daughter to smile."

Wally grinned a mischievous grin that Artemis was all too familiar with. "C'mon, Blondie. Our ride's waiting downstairs. Just one smile," he whispered in her ear.

Artemis obliged, but her mother tsked. "I want a real smile, Artemis."

Before Artemis could reply, Wally had spun her around and dipped her back, looking for all the world like some poster advertising dance classes.

Wally looked down at her smirking, and Artemis, breathless from the sudden movement, momentarily forgot to be angry. Her eyes crinkled as her lips slightly turned upwards.

CLICK. FLASH. Wally pulled the archer up, and Mrs. Crock, having gotten everything she wanted, told them to have fun and for Wally to bring her little girl back safe.

When the teens emerged outside, Artemis was surprised to find a Rolls Royce parked in front of the sidewalk. "Don't tell me this is our ride?" Artemis looked dubiously at the speedster.

Wally walked over and opened the door for her. "Yep. Slide on in, Beautiful."

"How did you swing this?" Artemis questioned when they were buckled inside.

"Well, I know someone who knows someone," Wally replied vaguely. "But I figured a motorcycle ride would mess up your hair, so I called in a favor. It's just a one way trip though. We'll take the quick way back." Wally winked at her. "Right, Alfred?"

"Right you are, Master West," came the reply from the driver.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Robin?" she deadpanned.

"Robin," Kid Flash agreed, entwining his fingers with hers.

* * *

><p>Driving to Gotham Academy hardly took any time. The two teens bid goodnight to Alfred before walking up to the gates and following the throbbing bass coming from the gym.<p>

"Wow, did you decorate this whole thing?" Wally asked his girlfriend, looking at the dozens of stars suspended from the ceiling, the balloons strapped to the tables, and the delicate streamers floating around the edges.

"Not entirely. Me, and the other girl on the decoration committee, Barbara, decorated the whole thing yesterday. Took us three hours after school," Artemis grumbled. Wally just smiled, and Artemis allowed him to lead her to the punch bowl, ignoring the looks of her classmates as she passed. She may have been a superb athlete about to lead their softball team to state for the first time in a decade, but she was still just a scholarship kid. A very, very attractive scholarship kid.

Wally poured them each a cup of the red liquid, but he nearly dropped his glass when he felt his pocket vibrate.

"What?" Artemis demanded, seeing the sudden look of dismay on her boyfriend's face.

"Communicator," he told her in a low voice, his eyes darting around the room trying to find somewhere private he could answer the call.

"Over here," Artemis whispered, putting her hand in the crook of his elbow and leading him off to the side behind a large sign advertising the dance.

She kept a lookout while Wally flipped open the communicator. "KF here."

"Kid Flash, we need you and Artemis to meet us in Boston as soon as possible," came Robin's voice. "It was supposed to be a simple recon mission, but we hit some complications, didn't know the full involvement of all parties, and," the Boy Wonder paused, "Clayface is here."

Robin didn't need to say any more. Kid Flash knew all too well the disastrous outcome with Clayface last time; they would need all members for this one.

"Sending coordinates now," Robin told the speedster. Wally looked down at his phone-like com which lit up with the map and tracking system.

"Got it. We're on our way," Kid Flash told Robin before snapping the communicator shut.

Artemis turned to the redhead, trying to keep the disappointment from her eyes. "What happened?" she asked, keeping her voice level.

"Clayface," Wally told her, watching the understanding wash over her features. "We need to get out of here without attracting suspicion."

Artemis looked around the dance floor, grabbed Wally's hand, and led him to the other side of the gym. They left through a side door, walking down a hallway full of other couples looking for a more secluded location, and made a right down another hallway before taking a maintenance exit.

They ran for the nearest cover, which happened to be a clump of bushes. Kid Flash surveyed the grounds before turning to the archer. "Coast is clear," he informed her, watching as she assembled her crossbow- from where he wasn't sure.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said, allowing him to scoop her up before taking off at sonic speeds.

* * *

><p>As far as missions went, it was one of the team's better albeit longer ones. They were more prepared to fight Clayface as a unit, but in the end it was Artemis that really made the difference. She had modified several sticky-gunk arrows to fit her crossbow, and when combined with the mud and sludge that composed Clayface, the villain began to slow down, his mass sticking to every surface that he covered. With Kid Flash and Superboy providing excellent distractions, Miss Martian was able to contain the monster long enough for Aqualad to spray water and Robin's batarangs to freeze the moisture.<p>

It didn't take long for the league to arrive after the capture. Aqualad was conversing with Batman while Miss Martian was moving Clayface into a newer, more improved containment tube when Kid Flash glanced at his watch. It read 11:23 PM.

"SNAP!" he exclaimed, causing everyone's heads to turn in his direction. Kid Flash looked at Artemis. "If we hurry, we might make the last song."

Then without any explanation to his teammates or waiting for Batman's debriefing, Kid Flash vanished with Artemis. The team stood there, mouths agape, not believing that Kid Flash had simply _taken off_ without Batman's dismissal. Even Robin wasn't cackling inappropriately as usual.

Four pairs of eyes turned to the Dark Knight who simply sighed and shook his head, muttering, "Teenagers," before turning back to supervise Clayface's arrest.

* * *

><p>Kid Flash slid to a halt outside the bushes next to the gym, gently depositing Artemis and preparing for the punch that usually accompanied whisking the archer away without her permission. He was not disappointed.<p>

"Wally! What the hell are you thinking!" Artemis whisper yelled, socking the speedster multiple times in the arm. "Batman is going to have our heads for bailing before the debriefing!"

"Hey! I was trying to make it back so you'd at least catch the end of the dance!" Wally whispered back defensively, grabbing the archers wrists to stop the brutal onslaught.

"Wally, have you looked in a mirror recently? Because I'm pretty sure us barging in there looking like we had a mud slinging contest with a bunch of five year olds is going to raise some odd questions!" she hissed

Wally looked down at his now-ruined attire. One sleeve was barely still attached at the shoulder, the other torn off at the elbow. His pant legs were both ripped at the knees, the right leg having an additional rip that went from mid-thigh down to his calve. He glanced over to Artemis, hands on her hips. She hadn't fared much better. One strap had ripped completely off her shoulder, and a tear ran down her left side below the sash to the end of the skirt, showing the chiffon underneath. The hem around the bottom was jagged from being snagged. Both teens were covered from hair to shoe in ridiculous amounts of dried mud.

Wally was about to reply, but noticed something suspiciously absent. "Do you hear that?" he questioned.

"Hear what?" Artemis whispered back, glancing around the grounds and picking up her crossbow.

"Exactly," Wally looked at her. "There's no music. Everyone must've already left."

"Oh no!" Artemis smacked her forehead, suddenly remembering. "I was supposed to help take down decorations!"

"We can go inside and check if they're still up," Wally told her, leading her to the entrance.

The two fifteen year olds walked inside the now vacant gym. Artemis looked around, surprised to find everything taken down save for the disco ball and the signs propped up on easels. The archer walked over to the nearest sign which had a note attached.

_Hey Artemis,_

_I saw you leave with that cute redhead and figured you'd be back later. I took down everything but the posters. Would you mind taking them out?_

_Thanks,_

_Babs_

Wally took one look at the note and grinned. "She thinks I'm cute, huh?"

Before Artemis could make a witty response, he was gone in a gust of wind, taking all the posters with him. She walked to the center of the empty dance floor, glancing at the nearby speakers. Student Council was supposed to take them back to the storage room.

The archer glanced up at the disco ball, feeling the familiar rush of wind that announced Wally's return.

"Hey! They left the speakers!" he said excitedly, fumbling for something in his back pocket.

"Yeah, they'll probably put them up Monday," Artemis informed him, walking toward her boyfriend.

"But that means the dance isn't over!" Wally said, ducking down behind one of the black boxes.

"Wally, I'm pretty sure everyone leaving means the dance ended."

He stood up behind the speaker and walked toward her, a mischievous grin on his face. "C'mon Artemis. Why don't you _stay_…just a little bit longer?"

Right on cue, the speaker began blaring music. _"Why don't you staaaaaaaaay… just a little bit longer?. Please say you'll staaaaaaaaay…."_

"What did you do?" she whispered as Wally stood in front of her.

"I hooked up my mp3 player to the speaker," he smirked and took her hands. "Dance with me."

Artemis shook her head.

"Please, Artemis? I don't want you to miss out. It is your first dance after all."

"Fine. One dance," she told him.

* * *

><p>Artemis learned several things about Wally that night. She learned that the speedster could be persistent without simultaneously being annoying. She also learned that he could hit high notes she'd never be able to top, even in the privacy of her shower karaoke time. And she learned that her boyfriend could dance. <em>Holy cow<em> could the boy dance! Even if he did make up all the moves as he went.

To her never ending surprise, she continued to allow him to lead her in song after song. Music from the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s blared through the tampered speaker in a kaleidoscope of electric guitars, tambourines, and synth machines. Occasionally a newer song would sneak its way into the playlist, like the one currently blaring out.

"_We can dance until we die. You and I…will be young foreeeeeeeeeeeevaaah!"_ Wally sang along, twirling Artemis out.

She was very certain Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" had never been intended for swing dancing, yet here they were, against the odds, laughing, twirling, and behaving like two fifteen year olds. It was a rush for Artemis, but not like the ones coming from too much adrenaline circulating through her system on missions. Here with Wally, she wasn't a double agent, the spawn of a wanted criminal, the daughter of an invalid, the Academy's starting first baseman on the girl's softball team, or the Young Justice's premier archer. She was Artemis. Just Artemis.

It dawned on her that it was freedom she was experiencing. Artemis had never been as free as she was now, in this moment, with Wally. She watched her boyfriend sing and dance like a fool, and she knew he was doing it for her, to let her know it was okay to just let loose, have fun, and be herself. No one else was here to see them.

He was close to breaking down all her walls, and Artemis knew that she'd have to be careful or she'd find herself falling too fast. And if that happened, Artemis was certain the consequences would be severe.

But maybe for tonight, if only tonight, she could let him _jump_ over the walls she'd built. She'd let him see a side of her few had seen before.

He twirled her back in to him, dancing in close quarters as the chorus cycled back through. "_Do I get your heart racing in my skin tight jeans? Be your teenage dream tonight…"_ she sang along in his ear.

Wally grinned and spun her back out, laughing. They sang along to the last little bit, ending when Wally dipped Artemis backwards on the last note. He learned fairly fast that Artemis enjoyed being dipped almost as much as she enjoyed twirling.

She let out a small yawn when he pulled her back up, but the speedster still spotted it. "Tired?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "A little. It's almost one in the morning."

"That late?" Wally exclaimed, glancing down at his watch. "Your mother's going to shoot me."

Artemis laughed. "I highly doubt that, but we should probably head out."

Wally glanced at his music player. Making up his mind, he looked back at the blonde. "Do you have time for one more?"

Artemis raised her eyebrow, hand on hip. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

He had changed the music and was back in front of her before she could blink, a slow song wafting through the speaker. Wally gently moved one hand to her waist, the other holding her hand up as he slowly revolved them in a circle under the lone disco ball.

"I can't believe you actually have slow music," Artemis remarked, looking into his green eyes.

"Technically, I didn't put it on my player," Wally informed her.

"Oh!" her eyes widened in sudden comprehension. "Is this from the 'Wally Is a Girly-Man' playlist?"

"Hey!" his cheeks reddened. "Robin hacked my mp3 and stuck that on! And how did you even know about that?"

"Robin hacked into Superboy's music player a few weeks ago and stuck that playlist in without changing the name. But I guess the plan backfired because Superboy ended up really liking the music," Artemis replied, smiling as Wally spun her out and back.

"Well, I guess that explains Conner telling me I had good taste in music," Wally smiled, pulling the archer even closer.

They stayed silent for several moments. Artemis lay her head on his shoulder, wondering what the speedster was thinking when she heard his voice softly singing along by her ear.

"_Circle me and the needle moves gracefully back and forth…If my heart was a compass, you'd be north."_

"So…Is this our song?" Artemis whispered, blue-gray eyes meeting his forest green ones.

Kid Flash gazed at her, tiny lights reflecting off the mirror ball into her mud-streaked hair. A line of brown and dark red went from her temple down her neck to the shoulder with the torn strap. He knew his state of dress didn't fare much better, but Wally didn't really give a damn at the moment. She was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and Wally wondered how on earth he managed to snag something so ethereal.

"Yeah," he murmured, leaning down. "It's definitely our song." His lips met hers in a cosmic thunderclap in a moment that liberated them both.

* * *

><p>The trip back to Artemis's apartment took less time than the speedster would've liked, but he knew all good things must end, including the festivities for that evening—er, morning.<p>

"You sure your mom won't mind?" Wally asked, walking his girlfriend to her front door. "I could explain what happened-"

"It's fine, really. I've come home later than this looking worse than I do now," the archer told him unlocking the door. She turned to face him. "Thanks for tonight, Wally. I had fun." She kissed him once more. "Goodnight." Her forehead touched his.

"Goodnight. I love yo-gurt!" Dammit! DAMMIT!

"What?"

"Seeyoutomorrow!" he blurted, and in a flash, Wally was gone. Artemis blinked once at the empty space in front of her the speedster had occupied a moment before. Then it dawned on her what had happed. A slow, evil smile spread across her face. Oh, she was _so_ not letting him live this down.

* * *

><p>A doorbell woke Wally up later that morning. Flinging himself groggily down the stairs at unsafe speeds for his level of awakeness, the fastest boy alive was surprised to find a local grocery store delivery guy on his porch.<p>

"I'm looking for a…Wally West," the man said, glancing at his clipboard.

"I didn't order anything!" Wally blurted out, acutely aware of his growling stomach at the sight of the truckload of food.

"Then someone must've ordered it for you. Sign here."

Wally signed the form only to have a box promptly shoved in his hands.

"You might want to refrigerate that!" the man called over his shoulder as he walked away.

Taking the box inside, Wally set it down on the kitchen counter and ripped open the top. Inside were two cases of yogurt. A faint, pink tinge dusted his cheeks when he finally put two and two together. Curse Red Arrow for bringing up the "L" word last time they met for coffee! Clearly, he had been thinking about it too much. And now he almost said it to Artemis! Surely it didn't mean he really loved her… But then why had the phrase tumbled unbidden out of his mouth? Was it just his subconscious ruminating on Roy's words? The speedster wasn't sure.

Well, one thing was for certain. "She's never going to let me forget," Wally whispered to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: In case you're wondering, the movie referenced is "Funny Face," and the music is "Stay (Just a Little Bit Longer)" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs, "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry, and "If My Heart Was a House" by Owl City. Most of you probably figured out that's where the title of the story came from. At this point I'm assuming Artemis already knows Robin's civilian identity (hence the "Robin?" comment after seeing Alfred. I'm fairly certain this is the longest chapter to date. Again, I had the beginning and the end done, but had a little trouble with the middle. I apologize if you get cavities from all the fluff. This may be the sappiest thing I've ever written.**


	5. We Got Older and I Should Have Known

**A/N: And here it is, the obligatory meet the parents chapter. Because dammit, I'm going to do this timeline right! And it is short, just like I promised ;P**

**Disclaimer: If I owned YJ, I would never purposefully omit Wally from ANY of the episodes. EVER.**

* * *

><p><strong>We Got Older and I Should Have Known<strong>

"Please Artemis?"

"NO!"

"Are you seriously refusing?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"It's only my family!"

"Yeah, so?"

"So…I've met your family!" Wally tried.

"You've met my mother," Artemis told him, arms crossed. Wally didn't bother to correct her.

"Still your family," he pointed out.

"I'm not going," she jabbed a finger into his chest.

Then the trump. "But, it's my birthday."

"It's…your birthday?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, remember when we first met and were trying to figure out who was older?" Wally asked her.

"Oh yeah…" Artemis recalled the memory, her eyes darkened. "And you wouldn't shut up for two weeks about how you were older. Barely."

"A whole month," Wally argued, belatedly realizing he was not helping his cause. "Besides, the rest of the team is coming," he pointed out, gesturing to everyone standing in the kitchen, watching the argument from a safe distance while simultaneously cooking dinner.

"They are?" she questioned, mildly surprised.

"Yeah, it's going to be a huge picnic this Saturday. My uncle and aunt planned it, and they really wanted to meet _everyone_." He gave his girlfriend a pointed stare.

Artemis sighed; Wally could have this battle she supposed. "What time does it start?"

"Around one," Wally told her, grinning at his victory. "I think everyone's leaving the cave at twelve thirty."

"Fine," she bit out.

"Hey, don't be angry," he told her, pulling her into a hug. The team turned back to their activities, already knowing where _this_ was going to go.

"I'm not angry," she replied sullenly, keeping her arms pinned to her side as he wrapped his around her. Her nose remained upturned away from him.

"I'll make it up to you," he whispered, leaning into her ear.

She turned to face him. "You—" He cut her off with a kiss.

* * *

><p>Artemis sat on the couch in the living room of Mount Justice that Saturday afternoon, waiting for her teammates to join her. A neatly wrapped red box sat in her purse, the clock on the wall informing her that her team had fifteen minutes to get their asses downstairs or they would all be late.<p>

Connor was the first to join her, clutching a box that he had clearly wrapped himself, refusing M'gann's assistance. Artemis knew Wally would appreciate that. One by one, Robin, M'gann, and Aqualad made their way to the common room until the entire team assembled before the zeta tube and were zapped to Central City.

Unlike Gotham, the Central City zeta tube transported the group to the outskirts where their sudden arrival was less likely to be noticed. Robin was in charge of directions, and with his navigation the team managed to arrive at the park only ten minutes behind schedule.

Upon taking in the large group of people playing volleyball, Frisbee, and horseshoes, Connor was the first one to voice what everyone was thinking.

"There's a lot of redheads here," the clone noted, looking around.

"Runs in the family," Robin informed him, waving his hand at someone in the distance.

It was almost comical to Artemis watching Wally run, _actually run_, toward them at a normal pace. "Hey guys! Glad you could make it! There are hamburgers and hotdogs by the grill and snacks on the next table. One of my aunts went to go pick up the cake, and we're about to start a new volleyball game if you're interested…" Wally talked as he walked his friends by a group of picnic tables, introducing them to any family members they happened to pass by. Robin apparently knew most of them from before and even chatted with a few of the cousins.

At some point Wally's hand found Artemis's, and once the group was provided with food and a volleyball, he guided her over to an occupied bench. "There are a few people I want you to meet," was all the whispered warning Artemis got before he stopped in front of a trio of adults.

Artemis was pretty sure she knew who the blond man was, but she had never seen him out of costume. The other two women looked like they were sisters.

"Artemis, this is my Uncle Barry, my mom, and my Aunt Iris." Artemis shook each of their hands, but was pulled into a hug by his aunt.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Iris told the blonde archer, releasing her back to Wally.

"Yes, Wally never stops talking about you," his mother concurred.

"_Mooom_!" Wally hissed, a faint pink hue dusting his freckles

They all laughed, and Barry pulled Wally into a headlock, ruffling his hair. "It's alright, Wally. She's a catch, and you have every right to tell us how amazing you think she is."

It was Artemis's turn to blush. Desperately searching for a change in topic, Artemis looked around and asked, "Where's your dad?"

She wished she hadn't spoken. There was a slight tension now in the atmosphere, and Wally abruptly replied, "He's working."

"Oh look, the cake is here!" Barry pointed over to another redheaded woman walking toward the party. The exclamation was a welcome intervention, and within no time, everyone gathered around Wally as sixteen candles were lit.

"Make a wish," Mrs. West told her son after the chorus of "Happy Birthday" ended.

Wally paused before blowing out the candles, glancing at his surrounding friends and family. His eyes finally stopped on a pair of blue gray ones. Smiling at her, Wally leaned forward and snuffed all the lights out in one swift exhale.

Cake was distributed and presents were promptly opened. After setting aside the new video game Robin had given Wally ("DUDE! This is AWESOME! It's supposed to be way harder than 'Call to Action: Special Opps II'!"), the small red box caught his eye.

"Who's this from?" Wally asked, looking for a tag or card. Everyone else was laughing and talking either about the gag gift Wally's cousin's gave him ("Seriously, a can of snakes?") or wondering how Robin managed to find a video game not set to come out for another two months.

"Me," Artemis told her boyfriend.

Wally carefully unwrapped the shiny crimson paper, eyeing the small box now in his palm. He lifted the lid, eyes widening at the contents. "How did you know?" He whispered to her, awestruck.

Artemis shrugged. "After listening to you tell us four million times during _'The Ultimate Soldier'_ how badass dog tags were, I figured you might like some."

Wally picked up the metallic necklace. There were two titanium tags on the chain: one with the insignia of the Flash engraved above a serial number that looked suspiciously like a date, and the other with an arrow insignia and its own serial number. The number on the Flash tab was today's date mixed in with zeros, and the one on the back of the arrow tab was—

"The day I first picked you up from Gotham," Wally murmured, flipping the tag over. He snorted when he read the inscription on the back: _Love, Yogurt._

He raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend who looked incredibly smug with herself at the clever jab now etched forever in a necklace he was sure to wear all the time.

"So," she leaned in, "do you like it?"

"Yeah," he pulled the chain over his head before tucking the tags inside his shirt, pecking her on the lips afterward. "I really do."

* * *

><p>It was growing dark now; the park was nearly empty save for a handful of teenagers lying on the grass, watching the early stars winking into the dusky sky. All eyes were on Kaldur, who was regaling them with stories of traditional Atlantian birthday celebrations.<p>

When M'gann began to discuss birthday traditions on Mars, Artemis, who was laying next to Wally, turned to the speedster and whispered, "I'm sorry about mentioning your dad earlier. I didn't mean to make things awkward."

Wally visibly froze for a moment before turning to face the archer, his eyes clouded. "It's not your fault. I—my dad and I—don't really get along. It's…kind of complicated," he sighed.

Artemis found his hand and laced her fingers through his. "You don't have to tell me about it. But if you ever do want to talk, you know I'm all ears."

He squeezed her hand, grateful that she could be so understanding. Then again, she was pretty much in the same boat.

"Hey," Artemis began, switching topics, "What did you wish for?"

"I can't tell you that!" Wally pretended to be scandalized. "It won't come true." He winked at Artemis who simply rolled her eyes.

Robin laughed at something Connor said, bringing their attention back to the group. Wally glanced at his friends before looking down at the hand still entwined with his and gazing over at the cluster of benches where his family had been.

He wished he could always be this lucky.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This is more of a filler chapter, but I figure at some point Kid Flash had to bring Artemis home to meet his family. He's just that serious about her ) I feel like Wally's father isn't completely horrible in the TV series, but apparently it's comic cannon for Rudolph West to be an jerk. I tried to reach a compromise in this chapter. Also, I totally made up the name of that video game. And the movie. But I imagine it probably starred a shirtless Hugh Jackman. *sigh***


	6. Risk It All 'Cause I'll Catch You

**A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed; I enjoyed reminiscing on the sexiness that is Hugh Jackman's manly chest… So, I think most of us realize by now that Artemis isn't the mole. However, I think that if there was one reason she'd ever give the team to doubt her, it would be this. Is it a cliché and overdone idea? Maybe…**

**Disclaimer: I am in love with Wally's quirks and nerdspeak—I mean, I do NOT own this show.**

* * *

><p><strong>Risk It All 'Cause I'll Catch You if You Fall<strong>

Somewhere, in all of her blissful gallivanting, Artemis should have realized her past would catch up to her. If she had been thinking clearly and carefully planning ahead (like she had been trained to do all these years), things might not have gotten out of hand. She wanted to attribute jumping in head first to spending too much time with Wally—she was starting to pick up his bad habits.

Artemis knew he could dodge the arrow, but she aimed it at his chest nonetheless, the circle with the lightening bolt dead center served as the perfect target.

"Remember the ninja movie, Kid?" Her voice was barely audible.

"Bialya? With the ninja dad and the ninja girl?" Kid Flash replied, slowly walking closer to her. "And the ninja boyfriend from the rival clan?" he whispered, his face serious.

Artemis nodded, her face not betraying any emotion. "And you remember what the father ordered his daughter to do, right?"

"Yeah, I do," he looked at her sympathetically. He took another step closer. "But you never did say how the movie ended, Artemis."

Artemis. Not _Tigress. _

She hated that he had to look her in the eyes. She could hide her emotions from her facial expressions, but he always saw right through her when his eyes met hers. And Artemis knew that her eyes were betraying her despair at the situation and her anger at Kid Flash for not getting out of the warehouse before it was too late. Before she had to choose between the two most important people in her life.

"Tell me, Artemis. Does the ninja boyfriend get the girl?" his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Artemis's gloved hands began to tremble lightly, and she tightened her grip on the bow. "Not everyone gets a happy ending," she said quietly

"But there's always the chance," he responded, almost within arm's reach of the archer.

Artemis looked into his eyes for a brief moment, keeping her expression stoic. "They never had a chance. If the ninja boyfriend had been smart, he would have ditched her before things got out of hand."

"Maybe he couldn't," Kid Flash told her, taking another step. "Maybe he was too far gone to even care what would happen to him as long as he could be with her."

"Maybe he should have thought about what the ninja girl wanted. Do you think she wanted to watch him die?" Artemis demanded.

"You don't have to do this. Just come with me," he whispered urgently.

"You don't understand; I can't. Leave. Now." Artemis bit out, trying to control the waver in her voice as Kid Flash stood in front of her. He shook his head no; she stared at the bright Flash insignia now inches away from the tip of her arrow.

"So," he looked down at her, his smile failing to hide his somber tone, "I guess this is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object."

Artemis took one step back, drawing her bow even tauter than before. "So which one are you, Kid?" her voice a steely whisper.

"The catalyst," he whispered back. And in the next moment, all hell broke loose.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback:<em>

Wally stared at the bewitching siren in the footage for the thousandth time, looking straight at her, yet not really seeing her. The situation sank into his chest like a lead bullet, and Kid Flash vaguely wondered if this was how James Bond felt when Vesper Lynd betrayed him. The dog tags around his neck suddenly felt extremely heavy. Surely he had been more jaded than James Bond? At least Bond knew Vesper loved him at the end of the movie. Wally was beginning to doubt Artemis had ever truly cared for him. Perhaps the entire relationship had been a ruse-another mole with another clever guise to get intel on the team. Kid Flash could've sworn he was better at reading people than this.

He tried telling himself that it was a conspiracy, that the footage was tampered, that she was set up. Hadn't she disowned her past in favor of a brighter future? But Wally recognized the fighting technique under that new, gaudy, one-piece costume, orange tiger stripes over a black background, her hair completely covered under the cowl. It definitely explained why she hadn't stopped by Mount Justice the last three weeks.

After admitting to himself that it was, in fact, Artemis behind all of those recent high-profile heists, Kid Flash proceeded to the next stage of his acceptance: he moped like the jilted boyfriend he was. The rest of the team sat around the kitchen table again, talking about Artemis, her sudden change of heart, how much information she had likely disclosed, how Robin was updating security systems, etc. Wally chose to ignore them, climbing upstairs toward the living quarters. He wanted nothing more than to flop face first on his bed while listening to any and all depressing songs he had on his mp3-so most likely the country playlist. A glint down the hall caught his eye. It was a batarang stuck in the door to Artemis's room, evidence that Robin had taken the news of her betrayal just as hard. He had more to lose than Wally if she exposed his identity. It appeared that even Superboy had punched a dent into the metal in a fit of rage.

His feet had a mind of their own, and the speedster found himself standing in front of her door, hand outstretched, inches away from the digital panel. Making up his mind, the door slid open, and Kid Flash walked in. The bright green light from the alarm clock cast an eerie glow across room, sharply demarcating shadows and making everything look more sinister. Wally sighed, flipped on the light and gazed around. The league had combed the room earlier for all evidence of premeditation and any bugs that may have been planted. Wally walked to the futon, straightening the pillows, trying to block all fond memories of spending time with Artemis on that couch, talking…laughing…kissing….

Shaking his head violently, physically trying to shake the thoughts away, the speedster turned to the shelf next to her desk, papers from English, history, and chemistry assignments scattered haphazardly across the dark wood. Rearranging and organizing the papers much like the archer might have, Wally clutched the stack in his hands, crumbling the edges before flinging it everywhere. He let out a frustrated yell, running fingers through the tangled mass of red hair that hadn't been brushed in days.

He knew her family history before this had happened. Hell, the entire team knew who her parents were after that incident in Rhelasia; it hadn't exactly been hard putting two and two together. Kid Flash thought he wouldn't be able to trust her after finding out about Sportsmaster, but he and the team had come to realize she was just a girl who happened to have parents that made bad choices. She was nothing like them; she made a conscious effort to be different, to be better.

Green eyes finally landed on a large shoebox stuffed in the middle shelf. Kid Flash couldn't recall Artemis having a box like that placed so randomly. She was surprisingly meticulous when arranging her stuff, and the container certainly looked out of place. Carefully, Kid Flash took the box down and set it on her desk. Upon opening it, evidence of the League's investigation was visible as items were shuffled around. Wally pulled out a crumpled note thrown hastily on top, unfolding and smoothing it out on the table. His eyes widened as he read the neat, small writing.

_For Wally, _

_Just in case there was ever any doubt._

_Artemis_

The speedster turned to the contents of the box, pulling each item out one by one. There were ticket stubs to theme parks, movies, and museums. Dried roses from whole bouquets had been pressed inside a Valentine's Day card. There was the miniature stuffed bear he'd won for her at a carnival along with her copy of the photo booth strip. A broken shoe heel lay next to a single dried sunflower. Handwritten notes in a much more untidy, hurried scrawl were stacked at the bottom of the cardboard next to a whole pile of photos.

Wally couldn't believe it. Artemis had saved something from every outing they had ever been on, even from when they weren't dating. Her own box of souvenirs. She had kept every silly note he had written to her, romantic or teasing, and she had saved that sunflower from the first time they went to Kansas together. Even the bracelet that had accompanied the valentine's card was inside. Sure Artemis ragged on him for his obsession with collecting items from missions, but it turned out she was just as sentimental. Kid Flash shuffled through all the pictures, trying not to smile as he flipped through the ones Paula Crock took before Artemis's first dance.

He came to the last photo—a picture of Artemis hugging her mother in that same black and white dress that had been massacred by Clayface. Wally paused—the photo seemed slightly out of place in the shoe box. Turning the picture over, Wally read the tiny inscription at the bottom.

_For Mom, just a reminder that I'd do anything for you._

It was a clue. A big, fat clue that the Justice League had missed. Kid Flash sped out of the room. He needed to find Batman.

* * *

><p><em>End of Flashback<em>

"He said 'catalyst.' Contacting Justice League to ensure prisoner retrieval is complete. Evidence collection and reconnaissance is in motion. Everyone, take your positions," Aqualad commanded into his ear com. "Miss Martian, initiate the mental link."

"_Do I include Artemis?"_ Miss Martian inquired mentally.

"_Not yet,"_ came Aqualad's response. "_We need confirmation of her mother in our custody first. Kid Flash, engage Artemis._"

Artemis didn't realize how much she missed Wally. Had it really only been three weeks ago when he was zipping her around like he was now? She wasn't sure where he was taking her, but she could hear gunfire and explosions in the distance. The scenery all blurred together before he dropped her on the ground two miles away from the warehouse and launched an electromagnetic pulse directly at her.

The wave passed through her from Wally's device, and Artemis turned toward the speedster. "What the hell do you think-"

"We don't have much time," his voice was urgent as he interrupted her rant. Opening his wrist guards, Kid Flash pulled out what looked like green fabric. "That pulse knocked out any electronic bugs currently in your costume and on your bow, but we only have a five minute window. This was as much of your uniform as I could fit in my wrist compartments. Robin has your other bow on his utility belt." He tossed the green mask, top, and pants at the archer who stood staring at him, mouth agape in shock.

"I can't-" she was about to yell at Kid Flash that he didn't know the severity of the situation, but he held up a hand, pressing his two forefingers to his temple.

"Miss Martian has just informed me that the League has custody of your mother," his eyes grew softer under the mask. "She's safe, Artemis."

"I—" Artemis's voice faltered as the victory of the moment set in. Her mother was safe. She was safe from the Shadows, safe from Sportsmaster, safe from execution. Artemis collapsed to her knees, wracking sobs that were halfway between laughing and crying leaving her mouth.

Wally kneeled down in front of her, his hands gently resting on the archer's shoulders.

"You knew? You figured it out…"

Kid Flash smiled as Artemis's tear filled eyes met his. "I had a little help. That was some souvenir collection you had…" He winked at her before a more serious expression crossed his face. "Artemis, I'm sorry I doubted you, doubted us. But I promise it won't ever happen again." He placed her palm over his chest; Artemis could feel the metal dog tags underneath.

She laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's alright, Baywatch. I don't blame you or the team. It was really my fault. I should've been more upfront with you about my family...my past connections..."

"Well, we can sit here and argue who was at fault, or..." a mischievous smile found its way across Kid Flash's face. "We can go regroup with the team and make sure the Shadows don't make off with any information that could give them an edge."

Artemis's smile matched her boyfriend's. "Turn around, Kid. I need to change."

"Right…And Artemis?" He briefly grasped her wrist.

"What?" Artemis looked back.

He brushed the briefest of kisses across her lips. "Happy Birthday," he whispered.

* * *

><p>As it turned out, the Shadows were caught so off guard by the sudden invasion of the Justice League and their younger counterparts that most evidence of their current activities was still present in the warehouse. Batman promptly set Robin to downloading all files before they could be deleted. After conversing with Martian Manhunter and Green Lanter, Batman followed Artemis who showed the Dark Knight the boxes filled with high tech devices that she had been commissioned to steal by Ra's al Ghul<strong>. <strong>In addition, she also led Batman to the interrogation room where all interviews, including the ones performed on Artemis, were on hard copy disks.

Batman began to sift through one stack of papers, the Question appearing on his other side to browse through file cabinets. The Dark Knight's eyes widened under his cowl when he saw a folder full of photos the Shadows had threatened Artemis with. There were several of the archer with her mother, but even more recent were the ones taken last month of the team in Central City. There was his protégé, ever present sunglasses perched precariously on his nose as he laughed. Kaldur gestured to Conner who sat with his arms crossed next to M'gann. The martian was smiling at Wally and Artemis who appeared to be having a disagreement. Batman stared at the whole stack of photos, pondering how he could better keep the sidekicks' identities safe. Perhaps they all needed to start wearing dark sunglasses when outside Mount Justice…

The prisoner list wasn't too glamorous. All underlings had been taken into custody, and Black Canary and Wonder Woman had captured Lady Shiva. Ra's al Ghul and Sportsmaster had managed to escape in all the commotion.

Throughout the ordeal, the team refused to leave Artemis's side, acting almost like her honor guard. Any doubt that may have lingered questioning if she was still a part of their family was laid to rest. Miss Martian had promptly glomped Artemis after the battle was over. Kaldur and Superboy settled for bone-crushing hugs. Robin hugged her normally. Kid Flash, Artemis could tell, wanted to kiss her senseless, but he settled for standing next to her, his fingers entwining with hers. In fact, the speedster nearly threw a temper tantrum when Batman wanted to take Artemis away from the team to the Watchtower for further questioning.

Kid Flash was about to say something that was going to get him extra training, but Artemis silenced any thought of talking with a well-timed kiss. Wally momentarily forgot they were standing in the presence of half the league and their teammates; he'd missed kissing this spitfire.

All too soon, Artemis detached her lips from his. Kid Flash frowned, but Artemis gave a small smile, whispering in his ear, "I'll come find you after this is all over."

"Promise?" Kid Flash felt childish asking.

"Promise," Artemis told him, dislodging herself from his arms and walking toward the Dark Knight.

Kid Flash was about to turn and follow his teammates when he heard Artemis's voice call him out.

"Hey Kid!"

"What?" he looked into her blue-gray eyes.

"Just so you know…I love yogurt too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sure some of you will want to shoot me at the end of this story for using that pun over and over…But it's not like I'm saying "Hello, Yogurt!" repeatedly or anything... The Bond movie referenced is "Casino Royal." This story is now over halfway done (provided the plot bunnies stop coming in the middle of the night, distracting me with ideas only to steal all my chocolate)! The next few chapters won't be very fluffy or super-duper happy just to warn you. But they will be worth it! And if you don't think so…well…you can kiss my yogurt :P **


	7. Chills Run Down My Spine

**A/N: There seems to be some (A LOT of) confusion over the last chapter which took place after Wally's birthday celebration (She disappeared about a week after the party. Then on Artemis's birthday they retrieved her). Just to clarify, Artemis's mother was kidnapped by the Shadows as leverage over Artemis, who was then forced to do their bidding so they wouldn't kill Paula Crock. At the end of the chapter, Batman was escorting Artemis to the Watchtower to further question the archer on the evidence they gathered at the warehouse plus anything extra Artemis learned while she was working for the Shadows. I may go back and write an Artemis/Batman oneshot expounding upon what happened. **

**Now without any further ado, here's chapter 7. There's quite a bit of angst, just to warn you. Like Wizard Angst from Potter Puppet Pals. Only no one bangs their head against a wall :.( **

**Disclaimer: Greg and Brandon would probably smite me where I stand if they ever found out about this story…**

* * *

><p><strong>Chills Run Down My Spine as our Fingers Entwine<strong>

Artemis wasn't as fast a Kid Flash. No one was. Unfortunately, with the lack of super speed also came the inability for rapid healing.

"I hate guns," Kid Flash muttered, keeping Artemis's head elevated up on his lap while applying pressure to the gauze bandage on her abdomen. He also added the Shadows to his mental list of things that he really, _really_ hated. They sure held a huge grudge when someone only loosely affiliated with them (and not by choice, mind you) decided that mass genocide and world domination wasn't their cup of tea.

Kaldur finished wrapping Artemis's shoulder wound with gauze and cast binding and went to tend to Robin's arm up in the front of the ship. Artemis wanted to call Aqualad back to bandage the gash running down Kid Flash's leg, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was spastic coughing and blood. She clutched her abdomen in pain, closing her eyes.

Kid Flash looked on with worry. "Can't this thing go any faster?" he yelled down the hall. Megan, looking a little worse for the wear, replied, "I can't go any faster without causing turbulence, and I don't want to rattle Artemis around. We should arrive in less than ten minutes."

"I contacted Batman," Robin informed them. "He has several medic league members on hand for our arrival." He glanced at his best friend who looked back gratefully.

It was the longest ten minutes of Kid Flash's life.

* * *

><p>Artemis's focus was starting to dim. She was surrounded by warmth, but somehow an icy chill had managed to seep into the core of her bones. There were bright yellow and red patches fading in and out of her vision along with two green spots. That meant—<p>

"Baywatch?" she mumbled. The green spots briefly came into focus as she looked into Kid Flash's eyes. She wanted to say something, anything, but the sharp stabbing pain in her abdomen was slowly sucking the energy away from her. Artemis clutched her stomach harder. Another warm hand placed itself on top of hers.

"Hang on, Babe. We're almost there," came Kid Flash's voice. She knew he was trying to get her riled up with that horrible pet name, hoping it would bring out the fight in her. And she was a fighter no doubt, but she was just too tired to fight anymore.

"Kid Flash?" Artemis tried again, attempting to lift one hand away from her stomach and to his cheek.

Kid Flash leaned into the palm that cupped his face. Slowly, her fingers trailed to the edge of his mask below his eyes, and she pulled upward. He allowed her to remove the cowl, his goggles clanging to the floor. The sound seemed to echo forlornly all the way through the silence to the front end of the ship where their teammates sat. Everything was suddenly more intense, but Artemis didn't want her last memory of Wally to be of his half-covered face.

"Kid," Artemis said more firmly, brushing a few sweat-soaked strands of hair back from his forehead. "I just want you to know—everyone to know—that I was honored to be a part of this team, and to have you all as my friends."

"Don't talk like you're going to die!" Wally demanded, his voice sharper than he intended. "You're going to pull through this! We'll get back to Mount Justice, and they'll fix you up, and you'll be okay-"

"Kid," Artemis interrupted, pulling him by the chin closer to her, "if I had to do it all over, knowing how this was going to turn out, I'd do it again." She cupped his cheek again, brushing aside a tear he didn't know had formed. She coughed a bit, more blood coming out.

"Artemis, don't—"

"I don't regret one damn minute. Not the screwed up missions, Megan's cooking experiments, Superboy destroying half my workout equipment, Aqualad flooding the living room, Robin hacking into my music, or arguing with you. Not. One. Damn. Minute."

"Landing sequence initiating," came Megan's voice from the front of the ship.

"Hold on, Artemis! We're landing; you'll be fine," Kid Flash choked out. He didn't realize he was so close to crying. "You can't stop fighting now!"

"Wally," her voice was just a whisper now. "I know how much we both love yogurt—" Wally let out a strangled laugh. Artemis smiled, "but, in case I don't get another chance to say it—"

"NO!" Kid Flash shouted, clinging to Artemis's hand on his face like it was his last lifeline, not hers. "Don't talk like this! Come on, Artemis! Stay with me! I can't do this!"

Everything was swirling out of focus. "Can't do what?" she mumbled, her hold on consciousness slipping. There was shouting at the front of the aircraft and voices from outside barking orders.

"Life," came his quiet response. "I need you, Beautiful. We were supposed to grow up, argue, fall in love, and be together forever. You're my spitfire"

Artemis smiled, blinking back tears of her own. "And you're mine, Wally. I love you."

Artemis was vaguely aware of Wally shouting at her to stay awake, but unconsciousness seemed much less painful at the moment. His voice was joined by several others, and suddenly, Artemis found herself being jostled and carried out of the ship. The movement caused another shock of pain to shoot through the wound in her stomach. Someone was messing with her shoulder, pricking that as well. Her breathing became slower, as did her heart rate. Gradually, the pain disappeared, and Artemis could feel no more. She didn't know if it had been hours, days, or weeks, but the dark, black surrounding her suddenly transformed into a bright, warm light.

"Am I dead?" Artemis asked no one in particular, her voice echoing around her.

"No, but you're giving it your best shot," came a voice from behind her. Artemis turned sharply to face the source.

"Kent Nelson?" she asked incredulously.

"In the helmet," came his reply.

"The helmet?"

"Mmmhmm. Dr. Fate's helmet."

"I'm inside Dr. Fate's helmet?" Artemis was not impressed. "How the hell did I get into the helmet?"

"My guess? Someone put on the helmet near you, and in your weakened state, you got sucked into it as well," came Nelson's response. "Let's go find out."

With nothing better to do in the vast expanse of nothing, Artemis decided to follow the old guy. They hadn't been walking for long when Artemis could hear raised voices. They sounded like—

"Wally?" Artemis whispered, looking at the speedster arguing with a disembodied golden helmet. "Can he see us?" she asked Kent Nelson.

"Only if you want him to," Nelson told her.

"Let's not interrupt them just yet," Artemis decided.

* * *

><p>"COME ON!" Kid Flash yelled at Nabu. "Can't you just use me and heal her with your 'mystic powers'?"<p>

"My powers are to prevent chaos from overcoming order, not for insignificant healings every time someone gets hurt."

"Look! Just because you don't feel pain doesn't mean everyone else doesn't! And she isn't some insignificant person! Without her, there'd be even more chaos then there is now!" KF shot back.

"You do not even believe in the mystic arts," Nabu pointed out. "How do you expect to use my powers to heal someone when you don't believe in magic?"

"I…" Kid Flash faltered. "I may not believe in the mystic arts," he said quietly, "but love is the closest thing I know to magic, and _that_ is something I can believe in."

"Love embodies both order and chaos," Nabu replied, almost to himself. "Your reasons are adequate for this request. However, to maintain balance in giving you something, I require something in return. You have already promised me that you would find someone to become Dr. Fate. Yet here I remain without a host."

Kid Flashed sighed, but he knew the sooner he appeased Dr. Fate, the sooner he could heal Artemis. "Nabu, I grant you the use of my body as Dr. Fate from now until I find a suitable replacement."

"You would leave your team indefinitely to accomplish this task?" Nabu inquired.

"Yes." No hesitation. Just pure determination.

"The bargain is accepted."

"NO!" both Nabu and Kid Flash turned toward the voice only to find Artemis running towards him. Kent Nelson was behind her walking at a leisurely gate.

"Artemis?" Kid Flash asked in disbelief as she glomped him in a hug. "Is it really you, or am I just imagining this?"

She cuffed him on the back of his head. "IDIOT! What are you thinking?" she demanded.

Kid Flash just grinned. "Oh, you are definitely Artemis. OW!" he rubbed his head as she hit him again.

"You can't go making deals with mystical armor just because I have a few scratches!" Artemis yelled at him, hands on her hips.

"You're kidding right? You were practically D.O.A. when we got you to Mount Justice ten minutes ago!"

"I've only been out ten minutes?"

* * *

><p>"What's D.O.A.?" Nabu asked Nelson, who was torn between amusement at the bickering teens and nostalgia for his wife.<p>

"It means 'dead on arrival.' So, are you going to heal the girl now?"

"I already did," Nabu said. "I did it the moment after the boy put on the helmet."

"You knew what he would ask for?" Nelson asked surprised.

"Indeed. And I knew what price he would be wiling to pay."

The two were quiet for a moment, watching Artemis jab her finger into Wally's chest and him looking indignant.

"Do you know how long it will take him to find the next Dr. Fate?" Kent Nelson questioned.

"If chaos does not stir up things too badly, he should find my new host within a year."

"One year is a long time," Nelson sighed sadly, looking at his pocketwatch. "At least, it is if you're separated from your loved ones."

* * *

><p>"Artemis! The deal is done! And I'm not backing out just so you can go and <em>die<em> on me," Wally told her in the sternest voice he could muster.

Artemis sighed, and leaned her forehead onto his shoulder. "You really shouldn't have done this."

"Remember that one conversation we had? You told me I'd know what to do when the time came," Wally whispered, bringing his arms around her waist. "And you were right. For once." Artemis snorted. "Besides, it's what ninja boyfriends do."

Artemis smiled into his shirt, reveling in the presence of the boy who had just risked everything for her. Kid Flash held her tighter, not believing that she had almost been taken from him forever.

"How long will you be gone?" Artemis's small voice broke the tender moment.

"I don't know," came Kid Flash's honest reply. "But the sooner I start, the sooner I can come back to the team..." He lifted her chin, looking her in the eyes. "To you."

"Promise me I'll see you again," Artemis demanded, blinking back tears. "Promise me this isn't goodbye."

Wally brushed aside the tears that leaked out from the corners of her eyes. Then, tilting her head up, kissed her. It was a deep, slow kiss that sent Artemis's brain reeling and her toes curling. Eventually, Wally pulled away, grazing Artemis's lower lip with his teeth before planting one last small kiss at the corner of her mouth.

"I promise," Wally whispered before he and all Artemis's surroundings faded into a bright light.

Artemis blinked her blue-gray eyes open and was greeted by the worried eyes of her team and several members of the Justice League gathered around her hospital bed. The sharp pain in her stomach and arm now a small, pulsing throb. She turned toward Megan.

"Is he…?" her unasked question hung in the heavy silence.

Megan looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "He left," the martian told Artemis sympathetically.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Is it just me, or have there been A LOT of near-death Spitfire stories being posted as of late?**

**Can I just say how happy I am to FINALLY be able to post this? It's been pretty much done since "Bad Reputation" was posted. The next chapter is in various stages of planning, so that kiss will just have to last you all for awhile... Or I could have a sudden bout of inspiration and just pound it all out. I don't know. The ending of the story has been written, if that's any consolation. Only two more chapters to go…**


	8. I'd Feel Colder when I Walk Alone

**A/N: Wow! 100 Reviews! I never thought this day would come… *tear* Thank you** **Kagome-Inu5 . And I'd also like to shout out to Endermoon who was my 101th review, but who was almost my very first. Thanks for coming with me on the journey... ****And then I went and took forever to update. My intentions were pure, I swear! But whatever went down was something like:**

**Goal: Update **_**You'd Be North**_** while collabing.**

**Reality: Write three oneshots and a collab fic before pounding this out. My muse is in _sooooo_ much trouble.**

**Disclaimer: I wrote this while everyone else was watching Failsafe, which I also do not own. Am I bitter? Psh…noooooo…..**

* * *

><p><strong>I'd Feel Colder when I Walk Alone<strong>

Artemis couldn't believe it. Kid Flash stood before her, in full costume, offering his hand for her to take. She was about to place her smaller one in his, but withdrew at the last moment. The temptation was still present, but something seemed off about the entire situation.

"Something wrong, Babe?" Kid Flash asked. Neither his smile nor his hand faltered for a second.

_Babe._

It sounded so casual rolling off his tongue, as though he was accustomed to addressing her like that on a regular basis. Artemis took a step back, her hand ghosting over the thigh holster containing her compact crossbow. Wally _never_ called her that unless he wanted to start a fight or was seriously upset with her. He knew how much she _loathed_ that pet name. And he most certainly did _not_ call her 'babe' while smiling and looking like he expected her to actually go with him. There was something wrong with his smile too. His eyes weren't sparkling with amusement and mischief, nor with the glint of that unknown factor Artemis liked to think was _love._ These eyes were vacant, dead. Logically, that meant only one thing.

This was not Wally.

"Who are you?" Artemis demanded, one hand at the folded bow hanging from the back of her utility belt, the other moving toward her quiver.

The Wally in front of her let his arm fall to his side. "Calm down, Artemis," he warned, advancing on the archer.

Artemis had an arrow knocked and aimed at his chest before he took another step forward. "WHO ARE YOU?" she screamed.

"It's me, Kid Flash," he told her, holding his hands up as though in surrender, pausing mid-step.

"YOU'RE NOT!" she yelled, blinking back tears. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?"

"Artemis!"

Artemis looked up at the source of the voice. Miss Martian landed next to Kid Flash, turning to the archer and asking, "What are you doing? Why are you attacking Wally?" Superboy, Robin, and Aqualad entered the picture, choosing to stand by M'gann.

"That's not Wally," Artemis bit out venomously. "Read his mind if you don't believe me."

"That's not possible," Miss Martain told her, placing a hand on Kid Flash's shoulder. "I personally uploaded all of his memories."

"I—what?" Artemis paused, lowering her bow, not understanding what the martian meant.

"You do remember we had a clone of Kid Flash made, correct?" Kaldur asked, approaching the archer. "We needed a replacement for the one we lost, so we voted to make a copy and sent Cadmus the commission."

The new information stunned Artemis. She turned to Robin. "And you were OKAY with this? Your _best friend_ was replaced with this _knock off_ and you didn't have a problem with it?" Her voice was laced with hysteria.

She turned to the rest of the team, fury in her eyes. "You can't replace someone like that! He's NOT Kid Flash! He will NEVER be Kid Flash! And you all are a bunch of idiots if you think anything otherwise!"

Artemis didn't have time to blink before the fake Kid Flash rushed to her, knocking her weapon down and holding her off the ground by her throat. Artemis tried in vain to pry open the hand that threatened to crush her wind pipes, flailing her legs around in a manner she could only describe as sluggish. She stared the clone down, his artificial green eyes and cold glare looking out of place on Kid Flash's face.

"I don't like what you're implying, _Babe_." The last word dripped off his tongue with a sneer. He squeezed his fingers tighter around her neck.

Artemis wanted to scream, to breathe, to yell at her teammates who seemed content just to watch, to grab her bow and stick arrows into this clone until he was a corpse. But above all else, she just wanted to get Wally back.

The blackness started invading the corner of her vision and continued to permeate with each passing second until the archer knew no more.

Artemis awoke with a gasp, bolting upright and gulping air like it was going out of style. She could feel her heart rate gradually settle to a trot as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

It was the third time since Wally's departure that she had had that dream. Coincidentally, it was also the third time since he left that she had slept in her own bedroom at Mount Justice and not in Wally's quarters.

Artemis did not want to be the moping girlfriend pining after the wayward boyfriend like some sappy romance movie. So after a week of sleeping in Kid Flash's now-empty room, Artemis decided her mourning period was over and that it was time to return to her own bed. Unfortunately, nightmares had ensnared her dreams every evening since, and she was losing precious sleep time.

Grumbling at Kid Flash as though it was somehow his fault (which it totally was), Artemis trekked out of her room and down the hall to Wally's. She slid the door shut behind her, grabbing one of his many button up shirts off the floor. Carefully, the archer climbed into the still-unmade bed, setting the shirt over the pillow before laying her head on top. She inhaled deeply, and for a moment it smelled like Wally was there beside her. Artemis hoped it would be enough to keep the dream demons at bay.

If anyone thought Artemis spending her nights sleeping in Wally's unoccupied bedroom was odd they didn't voice their opinion. And they especially did not bring up their own individual excursions to the speedster's living quarters.

Sometimes Robin disappeared for several hours at a time, choosing to work on homework or upgrade the Cave's systems from Wally's room instead of his own. Conner and M'gann occasionally went inside together. The martian preferred straightening Kid Flash's clothing piles, eventually breaking down and washing the mound of dirty socks. She knew Artemis liked to sleep with Wally's shirts for as long as his scent lingered, but she was absolutely positive Artemis would NEVER sleep with his smelly socks.

Conner liked to gaze at Kid Flash's souvenir shelf, and he personally took it upon himself to make sure the team continued to add to it.

Kaldur would pop in from time to time, hovering over the speedster's desk, looking down at pages of mathematical puzzles, scientific nomenclature, and the occasional caricature of the team or Artemis's name doodled with little arrows.

Wally's room was never off limits before, and the team knew the last thing Wally would want would be for his room to become an untouchable shrine. So, at the end of each new mission, the team began the tradition of gathering in front of his shelves and adding the latest souvenir.

* * *

><p>It was almost a month after Kid Flash's departure before Artemis finally cracked and lashed out in anger. The team had just returned from a tough mission gone south, and Wally's speed without a doubt would have been an incredible asset in making things go smoother.<p>

Artemis couldn't even recall what was said. The emotions she had been suppressing the past thirty days finally breaking free, like soda from a bottle that had been shaken too vigorously. One minute she was about to have a smack down with M'gann, and the next minute she had been tossed over Superboy's shoulder like a sack of flour. He toted her to the sparring ring before dropping her to the ground.

Superboy could sense anger radiating off a person like a bloodhound could smell a raccoon wading in a river miles away. And, being experienced in the ways of rage, he knew that what Artemis needed at that moment was a living punching bag that could hit back.

So Conner let her take her frustration out on him. He let her yell, kick, punch, flip, and attack him until neither of them could hardly stand. When she finally collapsed to the floor, mentally and physically exhausted, Conner sat down next to her, pulled Artemis into his lap, and let her cry herself to sleep into his new shirt. It was a testament to how well he could relate to losing (or almost losing) someone very dear to him.

He was almost positive Artemis was asleep when he laid her down in Wally's bed that night, but his super hearing picked up the faint, "Thanks, Conner," as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

The two team members came to a mutual agreement after that. It only required a glance from the archer before heading to the arena for Superboy to know she needed to blow off some steam. With everyone always working with him to resolve his anger issues, it finally felt good for Conner to be able to return the favor.

And poor Conner. No one really appreciated how much of his popular culture education was taught by Wally until the awkward questions came and everyone stood in stunned silence, unable to utter a syllable. M'gann usually asked Artemis about customs she was unfamiliar with when the two girls were alone, but Superboy had no such qualms and frequently posed strange questions the minute they entered into his brain, creating uncomfortable situations.

Artemis eventually shouldered this responsibility. Most of the time Kaldur knew less about surface customs than the two aliens, and Artemis had no wish for the young, _impressionable_ Robin to field questions with answers that would not have been out of place in a "That's what she said" joke.

So, after the fourth time Conner left his teammates speechless with an unbecoming inquiry, Artemis dragged the clone to the sparring arena by the crook of his arm, wiping the floor with him before calmly explaining that the Karma Sutra wasn't something one broached in polite conversation. He was much more tactful following that encounter.

M'gann's silent mourning of the speedster's absence stemmed mostly from her time spent in the kitchen. Kid Flash was always the first to taste test any new recipe she cared to try her hand at, no matter how deformed and burned it was. He never turned down food, and he _always_ offered her encouraging words to give a difficult dish another go. For him, food never had to look like the magazine picture to still be delicious.

The magnitude of Wally's appetite was also something none of his teammates (especially not the amiable martian) really, truly appreciated until their shopping trips for food became fewer, and the kitchen and dining room were stocked full of M'gann's baked goods. The team did their best to consume the Martian's desserts (Artemis swore she had to up her exercise routine to keep off the extra weight, glaring at her male teammates as _they_ didn't have to put in any additional reps with _their_ metabolism).

Eventually Black Canary took pity on the martian girl and would haul platters full of cookies, brownies, cake, and crème brulee back to the Watchtower so they wouldn't spoil. M'gann often suspected Wally's mentor, the Flash, ate most of the delicatessens. But despite the persisting presence of sweet snacks, the team ALWAYS kept a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream stashed in the back of the freezer—just in case.

Robin, on a particularly bad day, could be found eating a bowl of said ice cream, deep in pensive musings. It opened the team's eyes to how important Kid Flash's friendship was to him. Without the speedster teasing, laughing, and hanging out with the Boy Wonder, it became apparent that the resident techie was almost as reclusive as Batman. It took a combined effort of the other four original members as well as several visits from Zatanna to snap Robin out of his melancholy stupor at his best friend's departure.

It was nearly three months after Wally's absence before Robin would even _touch_ a video game, and he wouldn't have even picked up the controller had his high score not been endangered of being replaced by Artemis's. Push led to taunt which further led to a five hour brawl of Super Smash Brothers. That night, Robin found out just how _well_ Artemis knew her way around a game consul, and he was further surprised when M'gann joined the fray, having been tutored in the art by none other than Miss Blonde and Bad All by Myself.

That following weekend, Robin had no reservations about bringing the new Undead Destroyers II game to the Cave. If their skills in the art of laying banana peels and shooting him off the screen were any indication, Robin knew slaughtering a couple hundred zombies would be cake for his female teammates.

Kaldur was the best at showing emotional detachment at the departure of Kid Flash, taking the entire situation in stride. Perhaps he felt it his duty as leader to be strong and set an example for his teammates. If he moved on and coped with being down a member, then maybe they would follow suit.

No one dared mistake his calm façade for apathy, though. Sometimes, if they paid close attention, the team would find the Atlantian gazing at the empty spot on the souvenir shelf that housed the Helmet of Fate, or sitting on the beach after a mission that would have required Wally's nerdage, apparently lost in thought. He missed Kid Flash just as much as the others did.

Red Arrow was positively livid upon finding out about Wally's departure and even more furious that the team just _let_ him waltz off while possessed by the helmet. Such was his anger that he staged the one and ONLY attempt at retrieving Kid Flash from the clutches of Dr. Fate. The young justice team had no idea of this harebrained scheme until Red Arrow was _mysteriously_ deposited on the coffee table in the living in the middle of a Friday movie night.

Robin was more dumbfounded that their security wasn't impenetrable to Fate's magic than the fact that Red Arrow just appeared out of nowhere, and he promptly began running scans of the Cave's systems. Artemis laughed at the fact that Red Arrow was still tied up with the golden chains characteristic of Dr. Fate's attacks. M'gann and Conner looked like they were forcing back smiles, and Kaldur was the one who took pity on his older friend and promptly sent for Zatanna to remove said magical chains.

Zatanna, for her part, did her best to sneak out and visit the team, bringing with her a light-heartedness that substantially lifted the team's mood on even the dullest of days. More often than not, the sorceress-in-training provided a much needed distraction for Robin, but she could occasionally be found tag-teaming with M'gann to drag Artemis out for a mall crawl or a girls' night.

And the magician's daughter _did_ try to track Dr. Fate on the digital globe like her father had done for Wotan, but she only succeeded in tracking Zatara who felt his daughter's magic and arrived at the Cave in record time, having thought she was in danger. The grounding after that particular incident was severe enough that the team never asked Zatanna to attempt it again.

As it turned out, Wally would find his own way to inform his friends of his whereabouts.

* * *

><p>It had been over four months since the speedster's departure, and everyone had almost settled in their coping routines when they heard from him. Postcards began to randomly turn up on the kitchen table. There was never any postage, and no one ever saw them appear— it was almost like magic. The team was incredibly suspicious until it was confirmed that the handwriting on the back matched Wally's own messy scrawl perfectly.<p>

And the cards were always addressed to a specific team member. Several from India appeared first, addressed to Kaldur, M'gann, and Captain Marvel. The back portion said things like, "Dude, the sea life here is incredible!" on the back of an oceanscape, and "This statue reminded me of you on the mission with the Monqis." under a picture of the Hindu goddess Durga, and "Mr. Tawny says hello!" behind a picture of a yellow tiger. They were all signed the same: "Wish you were here—Wally."

There were postcards from China to Robin and Superboy and cards from Japan to Artemis and Zatanna. Artemis blushed when she realized he'd signed hers differently. "Wish I was there. Love, Wally."

Sometimes, the cards reflected the season. There was a whole stack on Christmas day from Russia, each one depicting a different scene of Moscow's decorations for the holiday. And of course, Artemis, Zatanna, and M'gann each received one from Paris on Valentine's day. Artemis was tempted to roll her eyes when she saw the cards for her two friends on the kitchen table, but her heart nearly stopped when she trudged to her room and found hers among a vase of red roses.

Kaldur began the tradition of putting the postcards on the Cave's refrigerator, and it was only natural that the others follow suit. More magnets were purchased, and the cards eventually overlapped every available surface. It was a challenge, putting the new photos on top of the old without causing a massive cascade of cards falling off the fridge. Like a warped game of Jenga. It wasn't much, but it gave his friends newfound hope that he was alive, he was well, and he would be returning.

Often, Artemis longed for something more than a card and the lingering promise that he would come back. She wanted to touch him, to feel him, solid and real in her arms, and to hear him say he loved her out loud.

Her wish was granted on her seventeenth birthday.

* * *

><p>Artemis always thought there was supposed to be something magical about turning sixteen. It signaled a rite of passage into the driving world, the world of summer jobs, and the world of first loves that were supposed to last forever. Her sixteenth birthday had been nothing of the sort. She had been driving since she could reach the gas pedal and her job wasn't something she could jot down on a resume under the experience portion. But she had hope that maybe the love thing might turn out okay. And surprisingly, it did—just not in the way she expected.<p>

After the craziness of her sixteenth birthday, Artemis didn't think anything could really top it. And she most certainly did NOT expect anything exciting to happen the minute she turned a year older.

So, on the night she turned seventeen, she did NOT expect to wake up at midnight, in the middle of a sunflower field, with Wally staring adoringly at her.

Her mind was groggily trying to process that something back in the land of the living had altered, and that it was probably in her best interest to open her eyes. So she did, slowly allowing them to flutter open, only to be met with a pair of brilliant green ones gazing right back at her.

"Wally?" she whispered, sitting up, looking at her boyfriend who lay next to her, head propped up on one arm. She took note of the endless sea of flowers before looking back down at him. "Am I dreaming?"

"Sort of," Wally shrugged. "It's kind of hard to e—Mmph!" Artemis didn't wait for an explanation. She attacked his mouth with her own, running her fingers through his already disheveled hair. He felt solid enough beneath her that she was willing to indulge this moment, dream or not.

Wally, having recovered almost instantaneously from the shock of Artemis launching herself at him, responded to her with just as much fervor, running his hands through her golden locks down her shoulder, stopping at her waist. He ran out of oxygen before she did and broke off the kiss, panting heavily, touching his forehead to hers.

"Still think you're dreaming, Beautiful?" His voice was breathy against her ear, and she could _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

"Nope," she popped the 'p' at the end for emphasis, meeting his gaze with a snarky grin of her own. "You're usually shirtless in my dreams. And you feed me strawberries."

"That can be arranged." He looked past her for a moment, face contorting into an expression of deep concentration. Not a second later, his eyes met hers, and he winked. "This better?"

She gasped. Her palms now had direct access to the naked toned planes of his shoulders, which had become broader during his absence. Next to the duo stood a bowl filled with strawberries, small green box perched precariously on top of the fruit.

"What's this?" she asked, rolling off Wally to take the box and admire the emerald foil.

"Your birthday present. Sweet seventeen and all," he grinned.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Sixteen is the sweet one, Kid Confused," she informed him, happy to be bantering with him again.

"Naw, I think seventeen will be a million times sweeter. Open it," he urged her, monitoring her facial expressions closely.

Artemis peeled back the shiny foil, finding a velvet black box underneath. She opened the clasp and gasped.

It was a silver heart-shaped locket suspended on a matching metallic chain. The front had been engraved with a Flash symbol. She looked at Kid Flash who merely sent her a mysterious smile. Gently, Artemis pried open the locket to find a compass, needle swirling freely about. Instead of an "N" for north, there was a green arrow, like the one displayed on her uniform. Etched on the underside of the lid was a note that read: _If my heart was a compass, you'd be north. Love, Yogurt._

She let out an unladylike snort at that last part, trying her best not to laugh, because he would think that he was being clever. And he totally was NOT being clever! He stole her idea from the dog tags.

But she couldn't stop her happiness from showing. She smiled, leaning in for a kiss, but not before catching the look of relief that flashed across his face.

"I love it," she murmured against his lips. "Help me put it on?"

He did so slowly, fastening the clasp behind her slender neck, allowing his hands to brush through her soft hair before leaning back to admire her.

She glanced down, beaming at the locket before looking back at Wally. Her smile faded slightly at the look he was giving her, like he was trying to memorize everything about her before she simply vanished and he was left alone in the vast field. It brought her lurching back to reality like falling into an icy ocean, and the archer reached out her hand, tracing his jawline.

"Wally," she whispered as he leaned into her palm, bringing his hand to cover hers, never breaking eye contact. "It's going to be okay."

He smiled slightly. "I know." He leaned in to kiss her, slowly at first, but rapidly increasing the intensity. He kissed her like the world would end if he stopped, like a a man on fire looking for something, anything to quench the burning, like Tantalus discovering ambrosia and drinking it, never to be fully satiated.

Artemis, sensing his borrowed time on Nabu's watch was fast approaching an end, gently pulled her lips away from his, trying not to moan as her bottom lip was grazed by his teeth. Their eyes were still closed when he spoke.

"I love you."

Her eyes snapped open. His face held no trace of humor or smugness, just pure, unadulterated, raw emotion. And she believed him.

Artemis smiled, mirth sparkling in her gray eyes, like stars in the sky after a storm. "I know, but you still have to say it when I'm not dreaming."

Wally's smile matched the archer's, the freckles in his eyes aligning perfectly with hers. "Deal," he told her before stealing one last goodbye kiss…

The first thing that assaulted Artemis that moment was the surrounding _smell_. She was positive she had spent the night in Wally's room, which was a mixture of his deodorant and cologne, detergent from the clothes M'gann laundered, and now a faint fragrance that smelled distinctly like the blonde archer.

This scent was strong and flowery—

Artemis bolted upright, gazing around the room, covering her mouth and trying not to scream in surprise. Covering every available surface of Kid Flash's room were hundreds and hundreds of sunflowers.

She placed a hand above her heart only to come in contact with a cool metallic object. The look of wonder was still splashed across her face when M'gann and her teammates marched in moments later.

"Happy Birthday Artemis!" the martain chorused, preparing to present the muffin with a lone candle to her friend before stopping dead in her tracks. The rest of the team poked their heads around the door, eyes widening in shock.

"Redecorating?" Robin quipped, sliding inside the room behind M'gann. Superboy and Aqualad followed, wading through the sea of sunflowers until everyone finally reached Artemis. They each brushed aside a clear spot on the bed, still gazing in disbelief at the sudden greenhouse effect.

M'gann handed her the muffin with the candle still flickering brightly. "Make a wish," she told Artemis, winking.

Artemis glanced around at the happy faces of her friends, from the gentle smile of Aqualad to the knowing smirk of Robin. She was pretty sure they all knew what she was going to wish for, but she blew out the candle anyway.

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><p><strong>AN: Wow. This story is winding down more quickly than I would have thought! Only one more chapter to go! And then a prologue... :D But first, I would like to share my reaction to watching Failsafe. Ahem. AOWIERDJOIQ23RUESJFHIEURHN! RAOIWJSDIAWFHI UHW OSIHF~! *faints***


	9. If My Heart Was a House You'd Be Home

**A/N: Dedicated to all you wonderful readers. Thanks for coming with me on this crazy fabulous journey :)**

**Disclaimer: *sigh* I still don't own YJ, but Brandon and Greg might want to take a look at this...just sayin'...**

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><p><strong>If My Heart Was a House You'd Be Home<strong>

His return was thirteen months, thirteen days, and thirteen hours exactly from the time he made the original deal. It might have been thirteen minutes, thirteen seconds, thirteen milliseconds, etc. as well—Nabu had a twisted sense of humor like that, and he continually enjoyed messing with Wally's logically-minded brain. But Dr. Fate was needed in that very instant, and, having found his new host, he didn't wish to keep the speedster in his tower any longer than necessary. Wally barely had time to say goodbye to Kent Nelson before his soul was ripped unceremoniously from the helmet, shoved back into his tired, beaten body, and magically transported two thousand miles away.

Superboy was the first one to learn of Wally's arrival. He stood inside the cave, ready to take Wolf on a walk when a dull thud outside attracted his attention. The clone was immensely surprised to find Wally in the middle of a good-sized crater outside the back door, soft beach sand trickling into the hole like an hourglass.

Kid Flash could hear voices as he drifted in and out of consciousness, sometimes alighting with excitement as though they could sense his desire to wake up. His leaden eyelids finally fluttered open four days later, the simulated early afternoon light projected through the false window in the medical bay and cast a warm glow on the stark white sheets covering him.

Yawning and stretching his hands over his head, Wally felt the tug of the IV catheter stuck in his arm, slowly replenishing his energy stores. Out of habit, he checked the ingredients, making sure they had combined them in proper amounts. It used to be his job to do that.

Satisfied that his team hadn't tried to kill him at his homecoming, Kid Flash gently pulled out the needle and wrapped the puncture site, looking around for his clothes before shrugging and leaving the room.

Wally came to the conclusion no one was home by the time he had ambled down to the kitchen. He stopped dead in front of the fridge, gaping wordlessly at the collage of postcards covering its exterior. They had _kept _every last one he had sent, displaying them across the vast surface. He took a moment to admire his team's handiwork, glancing over the newest additions.

Rolling back the sleeves of the hospital gown, he opened the appliance, careful not to let any of the cards fall. Not finding anything immediately appetizing on first glance, he shut the door and opened the freezer. There, in all its chocolaty glory, stood a carton of Rocky Road ice cream stuffed between a bag of frozen peas and a tray of lasagna.

True to form, Kid Flash bypassed the bowls and dug into the delectable dessert armed only with a spoon as he trudged up to his room.

The first thing he noted as the door slid open was the _cleanliness_ of the area. Wally was fairly certain he had several piles of shirts, jeans, and dirty socks lying around the carpet when he left (not to mention an unmade bed). These smelly stacks were nowhere to be found, and the uncluttered dark carpet looked as though it had been recently vacuumed.

The next thing he noticed was the smell. His cologne, deodorant, and gym sock combination was a mere whiff in the molecular mix he breathed, like a faint memory growing still fainter. In its place lingered a mixture of freshly laundered clothes and a subtle flowery perfume, identical to the one Artemis once used. He picked up a pillow off the tidy bed and inhaled deeply, a Cheshire grin of satisfaction forming across his features. Artemis had been staying in _his_ room and sleeping in _his_ bed.

He turned his focus to the desk and storage area. The souvenir shelf was much fuller than Wally remembered, and there were two thick photo albums perched atop his desk. His eyes traveled from item to item on the wooden slats, a small card beneath each told Wally how it was acquired. Most of the scrawl was in Superboy's small chicken-scratch handwriting, but it was interspersed with M'gann's loopy scribble, Kaldur's typewriter-like penmanship, Robin's illegible graffiti, and Artemis's neat lettering.

Wally set down the now-empty container of Rocky Road, searching for a pair of jeans and a clean shirt before opting to look at the albums sitting on his desk. Realizing nothing was going to fit (he _had_ grown almost six inches), Wally settled for a pair of too-small sweatpants and the largest T-shirt he could find.

Each of the leather-bound volumes held a few hundred pictures with captions lining the margins, and both were almost completely filled.

There were photos of birthdays, each person standing behind one of M'gann's homemade cakes ready to blow out the candles.

There were photos (taken by Robin, no doubt) of Artemis in her softball uniform being lifted onto her teammates shoulders as she led Gotham Academy to its second straight state victory.

The team had gone to Central's county fair and had taken photos on carnival rides, eating cotton candy, and participating in the various contest booths. Someone had taken a group photo at the end of the day, and Wally had to laugh at the large whale the side script said that Artemis had won for Kaldur.

Another group photo had been taken at Christmas along with several individual shots of his friends opening their gifts. One photo had been taken of a small pile of presents—all wrapped with shiny red paper—labeled "For Wally." He glanced around the room to find the same stack by his bed stand.

There were several formal photos of M'gann and Conner going to homecoming, her large tiara and glittery sash declaring her queen of the event.

And sometimes there were other people that Wally had only glimpsed at or heard of in passing but never had the chance to interact with. Like in the girls' night photos with Artemis, Miss Martian, Zatanna, Wonder Girl, and Rocket. The next description informed him that the photos had been taken during an "invasion" of the slumber party, which explained the following picture of pillows flying toward the cameraman.

There were a ton of pictures taken during the summer, showing lazy days at the beach, game nights when missions were sparse, and various vacation sites from different individuals.

Each memory had been painstakingly recorded, never wavering in detail or lapsing in time. His friends had faith in his return, but until he was back, they made sure to do everything in their power to capture the time he lost in his absence. Wally could never remember feeling so touched by such a simple gesture.

He continued to flip through the books, laughing at a funny shot of Black Canary in an apron cooking soup for a sick Artemis and Robin. There were several recent photos of Conner and M'gann's high school graduation, the two aliens grinning and waving their diplomas at the camera. He paused a moment, the hairs on the back of his neck rising slightly.

He _felt_ her arrival before hearing the small cough. Wally turned around slowly, half expecting the vision in front of him to be a figment of his imagination, a vapor mirage across the desert of his absence.

Artemis stood leaning in the doorway, arms crossed, expectant look in her eye. It was déjà vu from the first night Wally put on the Helmet of Fate.

He wanted to say something romantic. Something to sweep her off her feet and back into the gaping hole inside his heart that had formed during his exile. Instead, his words came out something like: "Is that…_my_ shirt?"

She glanced down at the too-big button up tied stylistically above her midriff, the deep blue contrasting with her customary white tank top beneath it. She fingered the fabric fondly before making eye contact. Wally didn't miss the challenging look in their gray depths.

"Maaaybee…" she drawled, watching as he approached her, still unsure whether or not she was an optical illusion of his lovesick, comatose soul. "What are you going do about it?" Her hip jutted out confidently, providing an excellent perch for her long, callous-ridden hand. Her pose screamed confidence, but Wally could perceive uncertainty darting across her features.

His silence apparently wasn't helping the situation. "I—" he began, but his train of thought had just been blown to pieces with a mental nuclear warhead, and the rest of the sentence died somewhere between his tongue and his teeth.

She shifted her position to something more subdued. Her fingers interlaced, and she cast her gaze downward. "The team—"she began softly before clearing her throat and repeating, more firmly, "The team's downstairs waiting for you," she looked back into his green eyes, finding his gaze slightly unnerving. "We were going to order pizza to celebrate."

"That sounds…nice," Wally said, mentally kicking himself for how lame he came off.

The awkwardness was irritating Artemis. This wasn't how she imagined their reunion would go. It was so… odd, clumsy, and embarrassing. Almost as though they were two self-conscious fifteen year olds that were still dealing with the drama of establishing their relationship status, and not a couple of seventeen year olds who were irrevocably in love and had been ripped apart from each other for over a year. It was maddening as hell, and Artemis wasn't going to take it anymore.

Wally watched Artemis's emotions unfold across her face, transforming from unease to determination as she met his eye. "Are you going to kiss me, or not?" she demanded, throwing her hands up in the air.

He didn't need to be told twice. It was all the encouragement he required to pull her into his arms and feel that she was _real_ and alive and truly present in that moment with him.

Artemis arms were still in the air when he initiated the kiss, and she wasted no time in wrapping them around his neck, pulling him as close as possible. Their friends could wait a little longer.

* * *

><p>The pictures and artifacts collected on missions said a lot, but Wally had never been good at reading in between the lines, so Robin and Artemis had to fill him in on the subtle happenings of the world he left. Conner and M'gann were getting ready to attend separate colleges in the fall and were no longer together. Though Robin swore they still had the occasional random makeout session.<p>

Kaldur began dating Rocket three months ago. Wonder Girl was the next permanent member established after Zatanna and had been working with the team since January. The Amazon's and Superboy's occasional flirtations usually set off the otherwise amiable martian. Robin and Zatanna had an on-again off-again budding romance that was usually punctuated with the intermittent dance dates the Boy Wonder had with Barbara.

Robin denied this, of course, but Artemis simply rolled her eyes and continued to fill in the remaining gaps.

Sportsmaster and Hugo Strange were currently in prison, and her sister Cheshire had some bizarre, rollercoaster relationship going with Red Arrow that generally prevented her indictment.

Otherwise, not much had changed during Wally's hiatus from the team. Their mission load was currently more demanding since it was almost the end of summer and everyone on the team (with the exception of Kaldur) was preparing to start classes soon.

"Your school already started back," Robin informed the speedster, biting into a slice of pizza, trying to bring Wally up to date over the loud chattering and laughing of the speedster's homecoming party.

"Don't remind me, dude," the red head groaned, looking around for another slice. "I still have to transfer back from being 'homeschooled' and take the entrance exams to make sure I can start back as a senior like I'm supposed to." He rolled his eyes.

"So, Nabu homeschooled you?" There was amusement in Artemis's tone as she sat back down, placing a fresh pile pizza in front of Wally.

"Yeah, more like he supplied the books and I had to learn everything myself," Wally groused.

"He did have quite the extensive library, as I recall," Kaldur joined in, sitting down next to Robin. "I imagine he taught you other things as well."

The magic reference was implied, but Wally chose not to dignify that assumption with a response, biting into his pizza instead. The mood was too joyous to dampen with his inability to continue denying the existence of magic.

And has he ate his umpteenth slice of pepperoni pizza, glancing around at the many faces of his team and of the Justice League talking and laughing in Mount Justice that night, Wally couldn't help but think, magic or no magic, there was something to this charmed life of his.

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><p>The prospect of starting his senior year had always been a bright spot for Wally. It was a star at the edge of the horizon signifying this torture known as high school would soon be over, that he could finally begin his journey of studying for a career in science at the collegiate level.<p>

But now, the school days simply dragged on in the sweltering August sun, the hands on the clock barely ticking forward, prolonging the duration between his imprisonment and when he could finally be with his friends. Conner and M'gann had just started classes that week, but Robin and Artemis were still soaking up their remaining school-free days. And Wally intended to make the most of those afternoons before the September school bells rang out.

The three would often meet up at the Cave during weekday afternoons, joined by Zatanna, Kaldur, and occasionally Wonder Girl, Rocket, Miss Martian, and Superboy. Sometimes it was just Wally and Robin having a zombie-slaying marathon on the widescreen television. Most Saturdays the team would head to the beach, intent on enjoying the warm weather while they could.

Sundays belonged strictly to Artemis though, and every weekend Wally would zip them across the country to somewhere new, some place he knew she'd find beautiful. And Artemis would playfully hit and scold the speedster for whisking her away without permission, but the small upturn at the corners of her mouth and the kisses that usually followed were always worth it.

It was a mellow Sunday afternoon on the last weekend in August that found them in a tall wheat field, still green and growing before its harvest next month. Artemis had packed them a picnic lunch, and Wally decided to run them to a random Midwestern farming town.

Artemis didn't mind being in the middle of nowhere; it simply meant that the couple was assured some quality alone time away from the stress of missions and the knowing glances of their team.

The mostly-devoured lunch stood off to the side on the blanket where the two had sprawled out, basking in the after-meal siesta. Puffy white wisps floated along in the blue sky above. A gentle breeze moved the verdant stalks and gently tugged at the ribbons of her yellow sundress.

Artemis's eyes trailed over her boyfriend's face, noting how much it had changed and matured during his absence, bits of stubble along his chin showing he hadn't shaved in a few days. She propped her head on her fist, the other hand idly running her fingers through his bright locks. Fate had a lot to answer for.

"Hey Artemis?" He turned his green eyes toward her, taking in her relaxed expression as she played with his hair.

"Hmmm?" she met his eyes.

"I think I want to marry you."

Artemis froze in shock. She had NOT been expecting that.

"What?"

Wally sat up, leaning on his elbow and facing Artemis. "I said I want to marry you." His green eyes were sparkling as though he'd just solved some difficult scientific riddle.

A million thoughts raced through Artemis's brain, and she could have kicked herself for the response that popped out of her mouth. "Right now?" her voice high pitched.

Wally threw his head back and laughed, laughed until he was lying down on his back, breathless. He glanced over at Artemis whose face was a mixture of shock and indignation. He tried not to laugh again. "You don't have to marry me this instant," he told her, amused with her response. "But I wouldn't have minded."

"What, you're gone for a year, and now all of a sudden you want to marry me?"

"It wasn't sudden!" Wally argued. "I had a whole year to think about it."

"You're crazy," she told him.

"For wanting to marry you? Maybe," he agreed, closing his eyes. Artemis scoffed, but Wally continued. "But I think I'd be even crazier if I didn't want to marry you."

A comfortable silence settled over the couple before Artemis spoke.

"You know," she resumed running her fingers through his hair. "In some alternate universe, you'd probably settle down with a normal girl. A reporter, like your uncle did. Or Superman did."

"Then I'm glad I live in this universe," Wally told her, eyes still closed, enjoying the scalp massage. "Because I'd take a snarky, defiant, homicidal archer superheroine any day over a normal existence."

"Homicidal?" Artemis questioned, her eyebrows arched, a mirror image of her bow.

"Yeah. Did I mention she was beautiful?" A dreamy expression crossed his face. Artemis had to roll her eyes.

"You're a masochist," she informed the speedster, pulling her hands back and laying her head on his shoulder.

"You're a spitfire," he retorted, wrapping his arm around her.

"Maybe," Artemis conceded, reaching across his chest to find his other hand and entwining her fingers in his, silent promising herself she wouldn't let him go again. Her gray eyes had just fluttered closed when Wally's voice sounded again.

"So, is that a yes?"

"A yes to what?"

"You agree to marry me, just not this instant."

Artemis grinned, opening her eyes to meet Wally's expressive ones. "Kid Crazy, that is the worse proposal I've ever had the misfortune to receive."

Wally rolled his eyes. "Okay Beautiful, so what you're saying is that when I'm on one knee proposing to you properly in some appropriate location that's totally romantic and stuff, you'll marry me?"

Artemis laughed then leaned over to kiss the speedster.

"Can I take that as a yes?" he asked when they broke apart.

"Maybe. And Wally?" her eyes sparkled as they met his, green as the foliage surrounding them.

"Yeah Artemis?"

"Just so you know… I'd marry you right now—this instant—too."

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><p><strong>Between laughing for no reason, stupid arguments, long talks, and making fun of each other, I've fallen in love with you.—Unknown<strong>

**A/N: Don't forget to read the epilogue**


	10. Bombs Away Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Still don't own this...**

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><p><strong>Bombs Away (Epilogue)<strong>

_Several months later..._

Robin did not appreciate being woken up by a call from Batman at three-something in the morning on a day he was actually allowed to sleep in. Nor did he enjoy being woken up over something so trivial as to check the storage cabinet to make sure everyone's alternate identifications were properly filed away.

Dick didn't even bother to put his sunglasses on as he trudged to one of the old office rooms, rubbing his eyes and pulling a sweatshirt over his t-shirt and sweat pants. It wasn't like everyone currently present in the Cave didn't already know his civilian identity.

The door slid open, and Dick walked over to a rickety filing cabinet, prying open the old, metal drawer and flipping through several tabs before pulling out a thick manila envelope. The contents were dumped on a nearby desk, pages of false background stories and plastic fake IDs that Robin had personally made piled on top of each other in a haphazard fashion. All of the plastic identification cards were present minus Jessica Chen and Roger Easton.

Wally's and Artemis's aliases.

To say that Robin was pissed off would be an understatement. He was NOT traught, was NOT feeling the aster, and was absolutely NOT whelmed. And he was NOT going to rest until the speedster and the archer felt the full brunt of his righteous fury at losing sleep over something as stupid as failure to turn back in their fake IDs.

The Boy Wonder figured he would take his anger out on Wally first. The speedster was his best friend and therefore the better target. His bedroom also happened to be closest. Not bothering to knock so he wouldn't wake up his other teammates, Dick marched straight into Kid Flash's room, pausing for the door to close behind him before shouting "WALLACE RUDOLPH WEST!" and turning on the light.

The room was in its usual state of disarray, but the speedster was nowhere to be found. Dick growled in frustration and was about to march out and find Artemis when a shiny glint caught his eye.

It was coming from a paper that lay on several books scattered across Wally's desk. Dick was surprised to find both the missing IDs on top of the paper, and even more surprised to find the shiny object to be an official seal.

Upon closer inspection of the document, Dick's surprise transformed into sheer, disbelieving shock. The now fully awake Robin finally understood the reason behind Batman's request, and for once he wondered if ignorance was really bliss.

It was a marriage certificate filed under Gotham's record system. Robin recognized the signature of the witness to be a priest at one of the older cathedrals in Gotham. The names of the parties involved were printed as Roger Easton and Jessica Chen, but the signatures above the names were Wally West and Artemis Crock. They had totally filched the IDs so the judicial system would recognize them as legal adults, and thus be able to get married.

"Batman's totally going to kill them," Dick mumbled before snagging the IDs and leaving.

The Boy Wonder collapsed on his bed once the plastic objects had been safely returned, not bothering to inform his mentor of their retrieval. Batman would know soon enough. Until then, a slow smile formed across the fifteen year old's face. He was going to have so much fun interrogating and teasing his teammates about this.

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><p><strong>AN: The End? **


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